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The Publication Committee of the Grolier Club certify 
that this copy is one of an edition of three hundred and 
sixty copies on Italian hand-made paper, and three copies 
on vellum, all of which were printed in the month of 
November, 1892. 



BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 
AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 




LORD THOMAS FAIRFAX. 



BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 
AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 



I 



BY 



MONCURE DANIEL CONWAY 




NEW YORK 
THE GROLIER CLUB 

1892 



3 3ir/3 K 



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V 



Copyright, 1892, 
By the Grolier Club. 




PREFACE 

Among the pretty legends of Spotswood that lingered 
on the Rappahannock, one related that he had sailed up 
the river on a ship made musical with English skylarks. 
He released these feathered colonists in the meadows, 
just below the Falls, in Spottsylvania, the county bear- 
ing his name. In childhood, daily passing those mea- 
dows on my way to school in Fredericksburg, how often 
did I hear those larks singing in the morning sunshine ! 
But our elders used to smile incredulously at such tales, 
and the skylarks were heard more rarely in boyhood. 
When youth was reached they had all changed to mere 
meadow-larks. But no doubt other children continued 
to hear them until they were scared away by the hurt- 
ling shot and shell which left their happy homes desolate 
monuments of civil war. 

The legendary larks still sing, however, in their 



viii PREFACE 

mystical heaven, for those who can revive and realize 
in imagination the colonial childhood that first heard 
their song. They are winged symbols of the happier 
ways of English life, which the good governor and his 
cavaliers tried to import, but could not acclimate amid 
the prosaic necessities and puritanical customs that 
gradually turned their melodies into killdee screams. 
But now and then from some old colonial letter I see 
the English lark soaring up again, and hear his requiem 
of a generation of Virginia gentlemen and gentlewomen, 
long past and buried, whose successors can only know 
in moldering parchment the brave life they lived on 
mountain, field, and stream, in their ancient regime, 
forever extinct. Such letters, however, with the heart 
of English Virginia in them, are rarely found, and it is 
like coming on a whole choir of the old governor's 
songsters to read those for the first time printed in 
this volume. 

Or perhaps I should say orchestra rather than choir ; 
for in these manuscripts, which have found their way 
into the collection of Mr. William F. Havemeyer of New 
York, we surprise an undress rehearsal of the prologue 
to our Revolutionary drama. On a stage beyond the 
misleading lights of patriotic prejudice, and hitherto but 
dimly lit by any lights at all, the unconscious dramatis 
personce appear, — light-hearted youths, loyal and happy 



PREFACE ix 

in their imported English habitat, little dreaming that it 
is passing away and their manhood pledged to America 
Some of the writers of these letters have hitherto been 
little more than imposing names in genealogical tables, 
others conventionalized into unreal figures of our na- 
tional wall-paper. My reader sh^ll see some living 
forms descending from that historic upholstery, and 
names climbing down from family trees to tell how 
they got there. 

These letters and manuscripts tell, indeed, no con- 
tinuous story ; they are unconnected, fragmentary, full 
of references to a variety of persons and affairs in a re- 
mote colonial period hitherto interesting mainly to the 
genealogist and the antiquary. The papers make some 
new paths for the historian and the biographer, but such 
multiplicity of persons, places, and events admits of no 
integral literary treatment. The interest is essentially, 
and not by mere metaphor, dramatic ; but the scenes 
that succeed one another belong to separate plots, each 
requiring the recovery of some situation to explain its 
motive, action, and references. They are connected only 
by the political and social regime which included the 
various aims and enterprises of the time, like a station- 
ary scenery. Of this some account and description 
must be given. I bring, too, some footlights from 
family history, glimpses into the old homes of these 



X PREFACE 

early Virginians, and what local lore I can gather for 
realistic presentation ; but the mounting must mainly 
be on each reader's own historic imagination. That 
imagination I endeavor to assist by some preliminary 
studies of the events which gave our Barons of the 
Potomack and the Rappahannock their political and so- 
cial environment, and the issues with which they were 
concerned. For the rest, although the main object of 
this work is not historical, I have availed myself of this 
opportunity to utilize some unpublished discoveries con- 
cerning the Washington and Lewis families especially, 
and to surround the epistolary portraits with appropriate 
frames. 

If personal sentiment becomes too apparent in any 
of these pages, let the reader be indulgent. The ram- 
ble into colonial times has involved a ramble amid the 
scenes and associations of my boyhood. A hundred 
years after the decade chiefly revived in these manu- 
scripts ( 1 740-1 750) the descendants of those famous 
Virginians were my schoolmates; in the old play- 
grounds were still young Washingtons, Lewises, Wil- 
lises, Bassetts, Fitzhughs, Masons, Maryes ; we sported 
in the same streams, and gathered cherries with deep 
conviction that Washington never harmed any such 
tree; we were greeted by venerable gentlemen and 
ladies, — Mrs. Dunbar, Judge Lomax, Byrd Willis, Basil 



PREFACE 



XI 



Gordon, — who in childhood had been greeted by Mary 
Washington and her illustrious son. Colonial manners 
and ideas had largely survived, and this masquerade of 
earlier Shades in vestments of memory is too real not to 
awaken emotion in those who feel themselves the last 
witnesses of a Virginia forever irrecoverable. 




CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

PACE 

TOBACCONALIA 1 



CHAPTER II 

Spotswood and the Cavaliers i6 

CHAPTER III 

"Arms, and the Man" 32 

CHAPTER IV 

Augustine Washington and his Family ... 44 

CHAPTER V 

After Cartagena 98 

chapter vi 
The Virginians 114 

chapter vii 
Warner Hall 144 

xiii 



xiv CONTENTS 
chapter viii 
Word-fossils and Folk-lore 172 



PAGE 



CHAPTER IX 

The Fitzhughs 197 

CHAPTER X 

A Lord and a Lad at Belvoir . . . . . . 211 

CHAPTER XI 

The Fairfax Stone 2j,^ 

chapter xii 
Mount Vernon, and Young Virginia .... 255 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Facsimile of Fairfax Coat of Arms . Device on Cover 

From the original map, "Survey of Northern 
Neck of Virginia, 1736-1737"; in possession of 
Mr. W. F. Havemeyer. 

Lord Thomas Fairfax Frontispiece 

Photograph from original oil-painting in Alex- 
andria Washington Lodge, No. 22, A, F. and 
A. M. Engraved by R. G. Tietze. 

FACIKG 
PAGE 

View of Old Bruton Parish Church, Williams- 
burg, Va 18 

Drawn by Harry Fenn, from photograph lent 
by Mrs. Cynthia B. T. Coleman. Engraved by 
C. Schwarzburger. 

Washington Arms on Church at Warton (show- 
ing shield) 35 

Drawn by Harry Fenn, from photograph. 

Facsimile of George Washington Letter, dated 
May 5, 1749, TO Major Lawrence Wash- 
ington, at Williamsburg, Va. ... 96 

Original in possession of Mr. W. F. Havemeyer. 

Facsimile of Superscription on Letter from George 
Washington to Major Lawrence Wash- 
ington . . . , 97 

Original in possession of Mr. W. F. Havemeyer. 



xvi ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACIVG 
PAGE 

Sabine Hall, Warsaw, Richmond County, Va. .138 

Drawn by Harry Fenn, from photograph lent by 
Mr. Robert C. Wellford. 

Mary Howell . 158 

From replica owned by Mr. Coleman G. Williams. 
Original in possession of Miss Susan Douthat of 
Buchanan, Botetourt Co., Va. Engraved by R. G. 
Tietze. 

Deborah Clarke, Second Wife of Hon. William 

Fairfax 214 

From the original oil-painting in the Essex Insti- 
tute, Salem, Mass. Engraved by R. G. Tietze. 

Facsimile of Fairfax Letter, dated November 10, 

1773 247 

Original in possession of Mr. W. F. Havemeyer, 

Lawrence Washington (with signature) . . .255 

From original oil-painting owned by Lawrence 
Washington, of Alexandria, Va. Engraved by 
R. G. Tietze. 



HEAD AND TAIL PIECES 

DESIGNED AND DRAWN BY HARRY FENN 

CHAPTER I. ToBACcoNALiA. Pipes, tobacco leaves and flowers. 
Tail-piece, tobacco plant and pipes. 

CHAPTER II. Spotswood and the Cavaliers. Horseshoe and 
oak branches. Tail-piece, bird and Virginia creeper. 

CHAPTER III. "Arms, AND THE Man." (Heraldic, anent the Washing- 
tons.) Fourteenth-century shield and wreath, showing cin- 
quefoils; seal of Augustine Washington; impression of George 
Washington's private wax seal. Tail-piece, arms of Barons 
Washington, from design sent by the present Baron Wash- 
ington of Munich; painted by his nephew, Stefan Wash- 
ington, LL. D. 

CHAPTER IV. Augustine Washington and his Family. A single 
ship. Tail-piece, seal of Augustine Washington on letter to 
Major Lawrence Washington ; drawn by Otto Bacher, from 
original in possession of Mr. W. F. Havemeyer. 

CHAPTER V. After Cartagena. Four ships. 

CHAPTER VI. The Virginians. Virginiacreeper and mocking-bird. 

CHAPTER VII. Warner Hall. Crabs, fish, and flowers. Tail-piece, 
Lewis arms, from an engraving owned by Captain Henry 
Howell Lewis, Baltimore, Md. 

CHAPTER VIII. WoRD-FossiLS and Folk-lore. Sea-horses and sea- 
weed. Tail-piece, shell and seaweed. 

CHAPTER IX. The Fitzhughs. Old letters. Tail-piece, Fitzhugh 
seal. 

CHAPTER X. A Lord and a Lad at Bel voir. Heraldic design. 
Tail-piece, shield. 

CHAPTER XL The Fairfax Stone. Roses, etc. Tail-piece, the 
Fairfax Stone. 

CHAPTER XII. Mount Vernon, and Young Virginia. Ornamental 
design from Greek jug. Tail-piece, andirons from Mount 
Vernon. 



BARONS OF THE POTOMACK AND 
THE RAPPAHANNOCK 



Tobacconalia 



FEW years ago, when Ameri- 
cans were sending to the press 
their sentimental suffrages for 
a national floral emblem, the 
true one found no favor — To- 
bacco. Its rosy flower is not 
unlovely; but had it been proposed an army 
of pious men and a host of ladies would have 
risen in wrath. Yet religion and tobacco are 
ancient allies. 1 asked an eminent Southern 




2 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Methodist why it was that, after the Union 
was politically restored, the sectional division 
in his church could not terminate. He fenced 
with my question for a time, but at last con- 
fessed that the wall of partition is built of 
tobacco. ''Those Northern Methodists for- 
bid their preachers to smoke, and are engaged 
in a general crusade against tobacco. That 
is our Southern staple, and our churches are 
largely supported by it." As for our ladies, 
they may cry for equal political power, but 
even the franchise, did they obtain it, could 
not give it to them so long as the insur- 
mountable cigar bars their way to the clubs 
and conclaves in which candidatures are de- 
termined and party treaties made by the cal- 
umet, as they were made by aboriginal tribes 
in the days of the good chief Tammany, who 
is among ''the undying ones." 

A true history of tobacco would be the 
history of English and American liberty. 

When Columbus reached the West Indies 
he found the gentle natives smoking their 
primitive cigars, — rolls of tobacco wrapped 
in leaves of the maize, — and when he asked 
for the golden treasures he was seeking, they 
answered, "We have a plant that destroys 
care." But it was just that care-destroying 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 3 

plant which two centuries later enthroned 
Care beside the British monarch. James I. 
was termed by Sully ''the wisest fool in 
Christendom." His wisdom was to recog- 
nize Tobacco as a rival potentate, his folly 
to try and make it minister to Prerogative. 
There was a republic of letters in London, 
and its president, William Shakespeare, whose 
pipe is still preserved at Stratford-upon-Avon, 
enjoyed it with his circle all the more for 
reading in the King's " Counterblaste to To- 
bacco " that its fumes resembled "the horrible 
Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless." 
But into that pit James pitched his preroga- 
tive when he endeavored to draw a revenue 
for the Crown from the ''pernicious weed." 
He was checked by a resolution of the House 
of Commons. The long contest which ulti- 
mately transferred purse and sword from 
Crown to Commons began with the tobacco 
question. 

Had the English commoners been as care- 
ful of constitutional rights in their colonies as 
at home, the American Revolution had never 
occurred. That revolution really began with 
resistance to irritating duties and regulations 
imposed on the cultivation of tobacco in 
Virginia. After some tobacco riots, followed 



4 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

by executions for treason, loyalty in the col- 
ony diminished. And presently the wonder- 
ful plant involved religion also. Those who 
mainly kept loyalty alive in Virginia were the 
clergy of the Established Church, and they 
were entirely supported by tobacco. ''The 
Establishment indeed is Tobacco." Such 
were the pregnant words of the Rev. Hugh 
Jones, A. M., in his pamphlet on ''The Pres- 
ent State of Virginia. " That was in 1 724. The 
noble lords in London, who controlled the 
plantations in Virginia, could hardly compre- 
hend the clergyman's singular sentence. 
Lords before them had been told that Vir- 
ginian souls were neglected, and had given 
the memorable reply : "Damn their souls, 
let them make Tobacco." And they did 
make tobacco, but it was found that this 
staple steadily grew strong enough to damn 
their lordships. 

Early in the eighteenth century tobacco 
had become the currency of the colony. By 
a law of 1696 the salary of every clergyman 
had been fixed at sixteen thousand pounds of 
tobacco per annum. But the value of such 
salary was variable, by reason of changes in 
the market-price, consequent on the quantity 
shipped to Europe, and also on account of 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 5 

the quality of the tobacco. In some parishes 
only "Orinoco" could be raised, which was 
inferior to "sweet-scented." Many a poor 
clergyman's household was filled with joy 
at tidings of his promotion from an "Orinoco 
parish" to a "sweet-scented parish," as they 
are described in the old books. But there 
were many parishes where no tobacco could 
be cultivated at all, and these were left en- 
tirely without ministrations of the Established 
Church. But in these tobaccoless wilder- 
nesses voices were heard of the Baptists, 
Qiiakers, or less definable dissenters, who 
were directing the pioneer's axe to the root 
of the established Tree that protected the 
throne. In some of these neglected parishes 
stood old church edifices, and these were 
freely utilized by any peripatetic ranter or 
rabid separatist who might come along. 
Even the wandering "parsons" connected 
with the establishment were often illiterate, 
there being no American episcopate, and 
theological education and ordination remain- 
ing transatlantic luxuries. 

Historians of the American Episcopal Church 
have been somewhat severe upon the Eng- 
lish Church for not earlier appointing an epis- 
copate in the colonies, especially in Virginia. 



6 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

This was indeed inconvenient, as ministers 
had to repair to England personally for ordi- 
nation. But the failure was not altogether, 
perhaps not mainly, due to the English 
Church. The Virginians, loyal churchmen 
as they generally were, even when unortho- 
dox, dreaded the establishment among them 
of bishops' courts, looking upon them as a 
sort of Inquisition. And indeed, if a bishop 
in Virginia had magnified his office in the 
same way as the governor, the dread of him 
was not unfounded. However that may be, 
there appears no doubt that, in the absence 
of any near authoritative superintendence, 
the clerical administration showed some cu- 
rious developments. The clerk, chosen by 
the vestry, became an important personage. 
When the clergyman was ill the clerk of- 
ficiated, and sometimes introduced strange 
doctrines, as well as language not ''sweet- 
scented," into the pulpit. If the clergyman 
died, the clerk became de facto parson, and 
might long remain such. He often appears 
as the rival rather than the assistant of the 
clergyman, this giving rise to sharp divisions 
such as that in Truro parish, mentioned in a 
letter of William Fairfax (August 15, 1749) 
printed on a farther page. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 7 

It should be stated, however, that many 
churches, perhaps a majority, did a good deal 
of missionary work, sending out "readers" 
far and near to conduct services and read 
sermons. In studying the vestry-book of 
St. George's parish, whose centre was Fred- 
ericksburg, I have found it amusing to note 
the care with which the vestryrnen made 
their reports of counting the tobacco-plants. 
Every plant in the county of Spottsylvania 
was counted as if each were a pound sterling 
in a bank. The services done by these plants 
are shown in the following parish account for 
one year : 

Dt. Lbs. of Tobacco. 

To Rev. James Marye, his salary per year • . 16,000 

To George Carter, Reader at Mattapony . . . 1,000 

To R. Stuart, Reader at Rappahannock . . . 1,000 

To Readers at Germanna and the Chapel . . 2,000 
To Zachary Lewis, for prosecuting all suits for 

the parish, per annum 500 

To Mary Day, a poor woman 350 

To Mrs. Livingston, for salivating a poor 

woman, promising to cure her again if 

she should be sick again in twelve month 1,000 

To James Atkins, a poor man 550 

To M. Bolton, for keeping a bastard child a 

year 800 

To John Taliaferro, for three surplices . . . 5,000 



8 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

To Wm. Philips, Reader at the Mountain . ^2^ 

To John Gordon, sexton at Germanna . . 5,000 
To John Taliaferro, for keeping a poor girl 

six months i ,000 

To Edmund Herndon, for maintaining Thomas 

Moor 800 

Cr. 

1500 tythables, at 22 lbs. of tobacco per poll 33,000 
175 tythables employed in Spottswood's 
Iron Works, exempted by law from pay- 
ing tythes. 

There was something in the life of a planter 
that tended to foster a spirit of independence. 
He lived at the centre of a large estate, not 
under the eye of his peers, patriarchally su- 
preme in his family, surrounded by his white 
serfs and negro slaves. His word was law. 
He and his family were fed from the many- 
breasted earth; the little they needed from 
England being easily and surely brought them 
in exchange for tobacco. They had their 
proud family traditions, their coats of arms, 
and were not liable to any snobbish deference 
toward the officials sent to Williamsburg, 
whom they rarely saw. For the rest, the 
swarms of British captains and seamen who 
sailed between the Potomack or the Rappa- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 9 

hannock and England were not such as 
could inspire any great esteem for the mother 
country. The Rappahannock was especially 
the highroad of the tobacco country, and 
trading-hamlets grew on its banks. They 
were generally inhabited by the younger sons 
of the planters, who rapidly accumulated 
money by attending to the shipping business. 
The town of Fredericksburg, at the head of 
navigation, was founded in 1727, and in it 
were represented the great families of the 
Rappahannock. 

The first vestry-meeting of St. George's 
parish (formed 1721) of which there is an 
entry, occurred on Monday, January 16, 1726, 
at the Lower Church on the Rappahannock, — 
the year before Fredericksburg was laid out. 
At that meeting it was ' ' Ordered, that Ben- 
jamin Cave and Richard Cheek do examine 
and enquire of the names and number of 
persons allowed to Tend Tobacco, accord- 
ing to a late Act of Assembly made for the 
Better and more Effectual Improving the 
Staple of Tobacco, and the crops of the 
several planters, and the number of plants 
growing on any and every plantation " — 
within a certain precinct. The bounds be- 
tween precincts were laid off every four 



iV 



10 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

years. This supervision of the plantations 
was called ''processioning." In St. George's 
parish, June 27, 1727, Robert Green and Isaac 
Normin "processioned the land between the 
river and mountains." These mountains 
were far away, near the headsprings of the 
Rappahannock. 

Soon after Fredericksburg began to fill up 
a little, a Scotch-Irish clergyman named Pat- 
^nu^nJ rick Henry settled there. His story, in con- 
'^, ]/] nection with his famous nephew of the same 

^DeX.a^^^j" name, is told in Mr. Wirt Henry's recent biog- 
raphy of the great orator. The Rev. Patrick 
Henry came to Fredericksburg in 1733, and 
remained little over a year, and it is a striking 
fact that under his brief ministry St. George's 
Church began a sort of rebellion against State 
control. They had engaged the chief founder 
of the town. Col. Henry Willis (whose wife 
was George Washington's aunt), to build 
them a church for seventy-five thousand 
pounds of tobacco. On the petition of some 
remote parishioners, the governor (Gooch) 
made an attempt to interfere, in accordance 
with his prerogative, with the location ; but 
he had to be satisfied with their explanations ; 
the chief one being that the edifice was nearly 
completed. It was the right of the governor 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK II 

to appoint every minister, and when the Rev. 
Patrick Henry resigned the Hon. William 
Gooch sent to Fredericksburg one Rev. Mr. 
Smith. After hearing him twice, the congre- 
gation dismissed Smith and chose for them- 
selves the Rev. James Marye. This admir- 
able man, who was rector from 1735 until his 
death, in 1767, was succeeded by his son, 
who was chosen by a vote of the people of 
the parish, the governor wisely submitting. 
It was a time when people were punished 
for non-attendance at church, and they were 
resolved to have a voice in the provision of 
their compulsory spiritual diet. 

The Act of 1696, fixing the clergyman's 
salary at sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco, 
had been subjected to a good deal of oppo- 
sition from time to time,— that is, in years 
when tobacco rose in price, — and in 1748 it 
was reenacted only after a considerable strug- 
gle. The value of tobacco was then \6s. 8d. 
per hundred pounds. This, with the free use 
of glebes, gave the ''sweet-scented" parson 
a snug little income, and he was very careful 
to see that his vestrymen counted the plants, 
and "tended seconds" (/. e., guarded the 
plants from being gleaned too closely, or thin 
second growths gathered). They showed a 



12 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

pious anxiety to prevent deterioration of the 
tobacco crop, or of its price, to the injury of 
Christ's kingdom in Virginia. But in the 
year 1755 a drought so injured the tobacco 
crop that the people could not pay their to- 
bacco debts in kind, and the Burgesses passed 
an act, limited to ten months, enabling debt- 
ors to pay such dues and taxes in money, at 
the rate of 165. Sd. per hundred pounds of 
tobacco. Tobacco, of course, rose in value, 
but the only creditors who still demanded 
payment in kind were some of the clergy. 
They appealed to the Bishop of London for 
his aid in having the new act annulled by the 
King. But the agitation showed that a ma- 
jority of the clergy were satisfied with the 
act. In 1758 another short crop caused a 
similar act (for one year), and this the clergy 
resolved in Convention to resist. The Rev. 
John Camm was sent to England to petition 
for a royal veto, and obtained an order of 
Council (August 10, 1759) which, the Lords 
of Trade and Privy Council declared, would 
render the act void ab initio. With this 
Camm returned and brought suit to test the 
validity of the law. The result was an issue 
between the House of Burgesses and the 
clergy. The law point involved was reduced 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 13 

to a question of the force of an act, signed by 
the governor, between its date and the King's 
disapproval. The great test case became that 
of the Rev. James Maury, of Louisa County, 
a popular rector who had not opposed the 
act in 1755, but now brought suit in the 
county of Hanover — Patrick Henry's county. 
The case went on until (November 5, 1763) 
a decision was given favorable to the clergy. 
But the question was left to the jury as to 
the damages,— that is, the difference between 
the money paid Maury, as his salary for one 
year, and the value of the tobacco he had 
claimed. This difference was £2^^. 

The jury awarded the Rev. James Maury 
one penny. Other defeats of the clergy fol- 
lowed, — the final one being on Camm's ap- 
peal to England, in 1767. The General Court 
dismissed it on some technical point, without 
going into its merits, — no doubt, as Mr. Wirt 
Henry thinks, ''a pretext to get rid of a 
troublesome question, for the discussion of 
which the times were not then suited." But 
troublesome questions had been raised by 
these tobacco cases, which were destined to 
be settled by the sword. The '' Parsons' 
Case," as it was called, was first heard before 
Col. John Henry as magistrate, — Patrick 



14 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Henry's father, — the orator's uncle, Rev. 
Patrick Henry, after whom he was named, 
being one of the petitioners against the act. 
Despite these ties to the throne, and to the 
church of which he was always a member. 
Lawyer Patrick Henry flamed out with such 
an arraignment of the clergy, for seeking to 
grind the suffering people, that he broke their 
authority, and became the darling of the 
Presbyterians and other dissenters. Even 
more momentous was his arraignment of the 
King. He declared that his disapproval of 
a necessary colonial act was an instance of 
oppression by the King; that by it he had 
degenerated from a father of his people to 
their tyrant, and forfeited all right to their 
obedience in regard to a law which could 
not be annulled without violation of the 
compact between the throne and the people. 
The opposing counsel (Lyons) cried out at 
this point, ''The gentleman has spoken 
treason, and I am astonished that your Wor- 
ships can hear it without emotion, or any 
mark of dissatisfaction." There were mur- 
murs in the room of ''Treason ! " But the 
bench and the jury sat spellbound by Henry's 
eloquence, and sanctioned the treason by 
their nominal damages. The case of the 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 



15 



colonies against the King was really settled 
that day. When the Stamp Act agitation pres- 
ently came, Patrick Henry held the people 
of Virginia in his hand. Tobacco had built 
him a throne before which King George had 
to bend, and by which his sceptre was finally 
broken. All of which would be more satis- 
factory had it not come by Virginia's first 
step in repudiation of her debts. 




II 



Spotswood and the Cavaliers 




iRGiNiA, in its three centuries, 
possesses the unique interest 
of presenting an epitome of 
both English and American 
history. There was a period 
when the British monarchy 
existed only in Virginia. When the fugitive 
Charles 11. was a pretender everywhere else, 
decrees still issued in his name in the ''Old 
Dominion," as it was thenceforth called. 
Virginia sent Col. Richard Lee to Holland to 
invite Charles to set up his throne personally 
in the colony. Some writers think his re- 

i6 



BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 17 

fusal was a lucky escape for America, but 
that may be doubted. He would probably 
have been rather more liberal than his father, 
Charles I., who, after he was beheaded in 
England, continued to be governor of Vir- 
ginia under one name or another. A colonial 
governor of Virginia was the prince of plu- 
ralists. As representative of the King he 
appointed all officers, and prorogued at 
pleasure the Burgesses ; as Lord Chief Baron 
of the Exchequer he dictated to the Council ; 
as Lieutenant-General he directed forces and 
fortifications on land; as Admiral he disposed 
of prizes; as Lord Chancellor he decreed 
causes ; as Lord Keeper issued land grants ; 
as the only colonial Bishop he licensed mar- 
riages, controlled benefices, appointed or 
deprived incumbents, settled ecclesiastical 
causes. One governor and another had 
made the Virginians realize that these guber- 
natorial powers were by no means theoreti- 
cal, though none sprung the whole engine of 
despotism on the colony. 

However, the golden age of every race has 
for its centre some benevolent or glorious 
despot, and the Old Dominion is no excep- 
tion. Probably no monarch in Christendom 
possessed more absolute powers than Alex- 



1 8 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

ander Spotswood, who, in 1 710, at the age 
of thirty-four, became governor of Virginia. 
Born in an English colony in Africa, familiar 
with the slave-trade, bred in the camp, he 
had courage, enterprise, enthusiasm; but he 
also had high principle, a sense of honor, 
and fine intelligence. The Spotswood legend 
has lasted longer in Virginia than any other. 
The great sea-fight with Blackbeard the pi- 
rate, whose diabolical head was brought up 
James River as figurehead of an English ship, 
survives to this day in the folklore of the 
Virginia coast. The Germans he imported 
had a curious story, yet to be told, and the 
town Germanna which he founded on the 
upper Rappahannock is the haunt of romance. 
Spotswood was called the ''Tubal Cain of 
Virginia," for he set workmen to mine its 
iron ores; and his iron age was transmuted 
into a golden age by his instituting the order 
of "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe." Or 
so it passed into the legend of Spotswood's 
reign, which in actual duration lasted twelve 
years, in romance never ended. 

The earliest mention of the Golden Horse- 
shoe was by the Rev. Hugh Jones, who by 
Spotswood's appointment preached in pretty 
Bruton Church at Williamsburg, which the 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 19 

governor transformed from a small structure 
into what it now is — a monument of his good 
taste. The clergyman wrote: 

" Governor Spots wood, when he under- 
took the great discovery of a passage over 
the mountains, attended with a sufficient 
guard of pioneers and gentlemen, with a 
supply of provisions, passed these moun- 
tains and cut his Majesty's name upon a 
rock upon the highest of them, naming 
it Mount George, and in complaisance to 
him [Alexander Spotswood], the gentle- 
men called the next mountain to it Mount 
Alexander. For this expedition, they were 
obliged to provide a great quantity of horse- 
shoes, things seldom used in the eastern 
part of Virginia, where there are no stones. 
Upon which account, the Governor upon 
his return presented each of his companions 
with a golden horse-shoe, some of which I 
have seen, covered with valuable stones, re- 
sembling heads of nails, with the inscription 
'Sic juvat transcendere montes.' This he 
instituted to encourage gentlemen to venture 
backward and make discoveries and settle- 
ments, any gentleman being entitled to wear 
this golden shoe who could prove that he 



20 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

had drank his Majesty's health on Mount 
George." 

So unimpressive was the incident at the 
time that no hint of it is found in any of 
Spotswood's letters, though he repeatedly 
alludes to the expedition; and although there 
were fifty persons in the exploration, and 
must have been a considerable number of 
golden horseshoes, not one has rewarded the 
long search of antiquarians for a specimen. 
Nothing was heard in Spotswood's time of 
any "Order" or '' Knights"; possibly he and 
those whom he decorated feared to awaken 
royal jealousy in England by any such ap- 
pearance of a gubernatorial fountain of honor. 
This part of the legend was evolved and 
decorated by later generations. 

The exploration of the Blue Ridge, which 
touched the imagination of young Virginia, 
had among its romantic episodes the return 
with the governor of an Indian maiden, Ka- 
tena. There are variants of the story: some 
said that she begged to be carried to the 
region of the pale-faces; others that she was 
taken as a voluntary hostage from her father, 
a chief, for his friendship. At any rate, I have 
been told by the descendants of Fraii(cis) 
Thornton that Katena is not at all mythical. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 21 

and that she became the devoted companion 
of their ancestor. She used to carry the child 
into the woods, near the mansion now known 
as Snowden, on the Falls of the Rappahan- 
nock, and taught him the wild arts of her 
race. On one occasion she was found exhib- 
iting to her charge a number of partridges 
enticed somehow into a wicker cage which 
she had made. But Katena died in her eigh- 
teenth year, and Francis Thornton remained 
through life a melancholy man. Her wild 
and pretty ways became themes of innumer- 
able stories. I have before me a poem by 
Miss Lomax, — a name found in the Have- 
meyer letters, — by which it would appear 
that Katena may have taught some fair Vir- 
ginians to swim. I conclude to rescue from 
oblivion this early poem written by a lover 
of the Potomack. 

'Totomack, in thy silver stream 
At silent night I love to lave, 
Unseen, save by the lunar beam, 
As light I wanton o'er thy wave. 

''Here, in thy waters fair reclin'd, 
I court illusion's changeful sway, 
To sweet delirium all resign'd, 
Reality fades fast away. 



22 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

" But what soft voice steals on my ear, 
As wrapt I lie in languid dream? 
And see ! a graceful form draws near- 
It is the Genius of the stream. 



i( i 



Mortal ! ' he cries (his liquid voice 

Sweet as the blue wave's softest sigh), 
'Still are my humid haunts thy choice. 
Still wilt thou to my green banks hie ! 

" ' When Nature spoke, and this fair flood 
Rush'd from its dark and secret source. 
The frowning rock, impervious wood, 
Alternate bending o'er its course, — 

'' 'Then rov'd my new-born shores along. 
The tawny sons of savage life, — 
Here raised the war-whoop loud and strong. 
Here desp'rate met in deadly strife. 

" 'And here full many a warrior rude 
In tortures drew his parting breath. 
But still with spirit unsubdued 
Pour'd fearless forth the song of death. 

" 'Near yon wild willow is the spot 

Where oft they formed the mazy ring; 
And yonder stood the warrior's cot. 
Who styled himself Potomack's King. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 23 

" * There from the sun's meridian ray 
An oak's broad shadow gave relief, 
Where oft thy ancestor would stray 
And woo the daughter of the Chief. 

" ' And often that same Indian maid 

(The white man's bride, as records tell) 
In childhood's lovely season play'd 
O'er these soft scenes thou lov'st so well. 

'"At night when Summer's ardent heat 
O'er all a listless languor leaves, 
Like thee she sought some cool retreat. 
And slyly stole amid my waves. 

" 'And often with her rustic bow, 

When Autumn's varied beauties smil'd, 
Then to my greenwood sides would go, 
And wander there a huntress wild. 

'' ' I've seen full many a fleeting race 
Since then arise to bloom and fade, 
Through time's illimitable space, 
And sink in dark oblivion's shade. 

'' ' But none like thee in all that time 
So oft have sought my lonely shore, 
So loved my verdant banks to climb. 
Their mossy beauties to explore. 






24 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

'' 'To none than thee more dear the sight, 
The music of my noble flood; 
And none have with more warm delight 
So oft upon my margin stood. 

" ' For this I bade yon sycamores 
In clusters o'er my beach to rise, 
And when thou sought'st thy native shores, 
To guard thee from intrusive eyes. 

'' ' For this I bid my waters bright 

To soothe thy ears with murmurs low, 
Whene'er by day or silent night 
Thou com'st to mark their graceful flow. ' " 

Alexander Spotswood was one of the few 
heroes who lived to find himself legendary. 
Having got into a conflict with a powerful 
party headed by Philip Ludwell, involving 
the rights of the Crown — that is, of the gov- 
ernor — to collate clergymen to benefices, to 
build forts and other things, poor Spots- 
wood lost his place in 1722, retreated to An- 
napolis, Maryland, and passed the remaining 
eighteen years of his life as a prosaic post- 
master-general. The most noticeable event 
of his subsequent life was his appointment 
of Benjamin Franklin as postmaster of Penn- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 25 

sylvania. But while he was thus in retreat, 
so far as Virginia was concerned, the iron- 
mines and furnaces he had promoted, and 
which bore his name, occupied universal 
attention, and his various expeditions were 
still themes of romance and poetry. One of 
these expeditions had been to Albany, where 
he made a treaty with the Indians, whose 
chief he decorated with a golden horseshoe. 
The last cavaliers of Virginia— the young 
Washingtons, Lewises, Fauntleroys, and the 
rest — were born in Spotswood's time and 
imbued with his spirit of adventure. When 
Admiral Vernon was fitting out in England 
his hostile expedition to South America, the 
agitation it caused in Virginia was partly 
due to the chivalrous spirit excited by Spots- 
wood, and to events that occurred under his 
administration. The belligerent feeling was 
especially aroused by tidings that Harry 
Beverley and other Virginians had been cap- 
tured by the Spanish, and made to work like 
slaves. When the Virginians were enlisting 
under Governor Gooch, and Major Lawrence 
Washington, in his twenty-third year, was 
beginning his career, Spotswood's cavalier 
blood stirred. He was now sixty-five years 
of age, but obtained the commission of a 



26 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

major-general. Just as he was about to em- 
bark for Carthagena, the old gentleman died. 
It is said that he was buried near his country- 
seat at Yorktown, Virginia,— Temple Farm,— 
the house in which, forty-one years later, Lord 
Cornwallis met George Washington to sign 
terms of capitulation. 

The brief sketch of colonial events here 
given will enable my reader to appreciate 
better the general situation amid which the 
writers of the letters presently quoted found 
themselves. Let me, in conclusion, relieve 
the history by a quaint love-story. Spots- 
wood's family were already persons of in- 
fluence in Virginia. His son John (father of 
General Alexander and John Spotswood of 
the Revolution) and his daughter Dorothea 
married in the Dandridge family; his daughter 
Kate was a famous belle, but she was rivaled 
in beauty by the governor's widow. Lady 
Spotswood, as she was called {nee Brayne), 
was of high rank, her godfather being the 
Duke of Ormond. After her husband's death 
(1740), her hand was sought by the Rev. 
John Thompson of Culpeper. Although at- 
tracted by the handsome and accomplished 
clergyman, the lady could hardly make up 
her mind to descend from her rank and be- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 27 

come plain Mrs. Thompson. Thereupon the 
clergyman wrote her a letter, preserved by 
the Forbes family of Fredericksburg. The 
letter appeared in Dr. Slaughter's monograph 
on St. George's parish, but merits wider pres- 
ervation among the annals of Eros in America. 
It is dated May, 1742. 

''Madam, 

'* By diligently perusing your letter, I per- 
ceive there is a material argument, which I 
ought to have answered; upon wch your 
strongest objection, against compleating my 
happiness would seem to depend, viz. That 
you wou'd incur ye censures of ye world 
for marrying a person of my station and char- 
acter. By which I understand that you think 
it a diminution to your honor and ye Dignity 
of your Family to marry a person in ye sta- 
tion of a Clergyman. Now, if I can make it 
appear that ye ministerial office is an employ- 
ment, in its nature ye most honorable, and 
in its effects ye most beneficial to mankind 1 
hope your objections will immediately vanish, 
yt you will keep me no longer in suspense 
and misery, but consummate my happiness. 

"1 make no doubt. Madam, but yt you 
will readily grant yt no man can be em- 



28 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

ployed in any work more honorable, than 
what immediately relates to ye King of 
Kings and Lord of Lords, and to ye salva- 
tion of souls, immortal in their nature and 
redeemed by the Blood of the Son of God. 
The powers committed to their care can- 
not be exercised by ye greatest Princes of 
earth, and it is ye same work 
i^^ . in kind and is ye same in ye 
Design of it, wth yt of ye blessed 
Angels, who are ministering spirits for those 
who shall be Heirs of Salvation. It is the 
same Business yt ye Son of God discharged 
when he condescended to dwell amongst 
men. Which engages men in ye greatest 
acts of doing Good, in turning sinners from 
ye errors of their ways, and by all wise 
and prudent Means, in gaining Souls unto 
God. And the faithful and diligent Dis- 
charge of this holy Function gives a Title 
to ye highest Degree of Glory in the next 
world ; for they yt be wise, shall shine as ye 
brightness of ye Firmament, and 
^^^^^^ they yt turn many to Righteous- 
ness as ye stars for ever and ever. 
''All nations, whether learned or ignorant, 
whether civil or barbarous, have agreed in 
this as a dictate of natural Reason, to ex- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 29 

press their Reverence for ye Deity, and 
their Affection to Religion, by bestow- 
ing extraordinary Privileges of Honour upon 
such as administer in holy things, and by 
providing liberally for their Maintenance. 
And yt ye Honor due to the holy Function 
flows from ye Law of Nature, appears from 
hence: yt in ye earliest Times ye civil 
and sacred Authority were united in the 
same Person. Thus Melchisedeck was King 
and Priest of Salem; and among 
ye Egyptians ye Priesthood was ^n.3. 
joined with ye Crown. The 
Greeks accounted ye Priesthood of equal 
Dignity with Kingship; wch is taken notice 
of by Aristotle in several places of his poli- 
ticks. And among ye Latins we have a 
testimony of Virgil, yt at ye same time 
Anias was both Priest and King. 
Nay, Moses, himself, who was xxfv'6 
Prince of Israel before Aaron was 
consecrated, officiated as Priest in yt solemn 
sacrifice by wch ye Covenant with Israel 
was confirmed. 

''And ye primitive Christians always ex- 
pressed a mighty value and esteem for their 
Clergy, as plainly appears by Ecclesiastical 
History. And even in our Days, as bad as 



30 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

ye World is, those of ye Clergy who live 
up to ye Dignity of their profession, are 
generally reverenced and esteemed by all 
religious and well disposed Men. 

" From all which, it evidently appears, yt 
in all Ages and Nations of ye World, whether 
Jews, Heathens, or Christians, great Honour 
and Dignity has been always conferred upon 
ye Clergy. And therefore. Dear Madam, 
from hence you may infer how absurd and 
ridiculous, those Gentlemen's Notions are, 
who wou'd fain persuade you yt marry- 
ing with ye Clergy wou'd derogate from 
ye Honour and Dignity of your Family. 
Whereas, in strict reasoning the contrary 
thereof wou'd rather appear, and yt it 
wou'd very much tend to support ye Hon- 
our and Dignity of it. Of this you'll be 
better convinced, when you consider the 
Titles of Honour and Respect yt are given 
to those who are invested wth ye Minis- 
terial Function amply displayed in the Scrip- 
tures. Those invested wth ye character are 
called ye Ministers of Christ, Stewards of 
ye Mysteries of God, to whom they have 
committed ye Word of Reconciliation, ye 
Glory of Christ, Ambassadors for Christ, in 
Christ's stead, co-workers with him, Angels 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK }l 

of the Churches. And when it is moreover 
declared yt whosoever despiseth them, de- 
spiseth not Man but God. All which Titles 
shew yt upon many accounts they stand 
called, appropriated and devoted to God 
himself. And therefore, if a Gentleman of 
this sacred and honourable character should 
be married to a Lady, though of ye greatest 
extraction and most excellent personal quali- 
ties (which I'm sensible you're endowed 
with), can be no disgrace to her, nor her 
family, nor draw ye censures of ye world 
upon either, for such an action. And there- 
fore Dr Madam, your argument being re- 
futed you can no longer consistently refuse 
to consummate my happiness. 

''John Thompson." 

Cupid has rarely taken Scripture texts for 
his arrows, and in this case he was not blind. 
On November 9, 1742, Lady Spotswood be- 
came Mrs. Thompson. 




Ill 



''Arms, and the Man" 




RMA VIRUMQUE CANO. So Vir- 
gil begins the /Eneid, and his 
metaphor is in felicitous com- 
bination ; for in his time the 
weapon was not independent 
of the warrior. The weak 
could not then match the strong, nor the 
coward defeat the hero, with a death-dealing 
automaton set at the post of peril. Parallel 
to this change is that which has come over 
the heraldic significance of arms. It is no 
longer possible to connect the man and his 
coat of arms. Some years before the Revo- 
lution, Thomas Jefferson wrote to his London 



BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 33 

agent to try and find his family arms, and, if 
unsuccessful, to purchase some heraldic de- 
vice for him; ''having Sterne's word for it 
that a coat of arms may be purchased as 
cheap as any other coat." A peep of the 
democratic day is in this incident. The 
American must not be outdone by any 
bloated aristocrat of the Old World ; he, too, 
must have his heraldic coat; but whether 
the coat is his own, or whether it fits him, 
are unimportant considerations. And to-day 
how many parade coats of arms which, to the 
antiquarian eye, are grotesque, as if they 
were strutting about in dress-coats falling 
to their heels, enveloping their finger-tips, 
engulfing their ears ! 

Of old the arms meant the man. Every 
coat of arms when originally conferred was a 
strict record of action done, of service ren- 
dered ; every modification of such device had 
historical meaning. There can be no truer 
illustration of this than the Washington arms. 
In the thirteenth century there were some 
Washingtons in County Durham, England, a 
witness to whose influence remains in the 
village there bearing their name, but whose 
personality is traceable only in their arms. 
These are described in some ancient and 



34 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

unpublished manuscripts at Oxford, for the 
deciphering of which I am indebted to Dr. 
Nicholson, the Bodleian librarian. 

The earliest Washington shield holds: 
''Gules on a barre argent, 3 Cinquefoiles of 
ye first." Turning to old books on heraldry, 
we find that gules, or blood-red, means cour- 
age ; that argent, or silver, signifies purity, 
and also that the bearer, though a gentleman, 
is not of the highest rank. The bar, when 
single, means the same as a fesse, originally 
a magisterial belt, later a military sash, mean- 
ing that the gentleman had been knighted. 
The cinquefoil has a meaning first as an 
herb, indicating that the magistrate or knight 
was an agriculturist ; secondly, as five-leaved, 
according to Kent's ''Banner Display 'd," in 
which occurs the following note: "The 
number of Leaves in this Herb answers 
to the five senses of Man ; and he that 
conquers his Affections and Appetites is a 
worthy Bearer of this Charge, and a greater 
hero than C^sar or Alexander; for, as the 
poet says, 

'"When all are conquered greater Glory's 
won 
If by himself the Conqueror 's undone.' " 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 35 

We know, then, by a coat of arms that the 
early Washingtons were agriculturists, hon- 
ored for purity of character and for courage ; 
also that one of them was a belted knight. 
But now we take another step. The shield 
of this family afterwards bears, according 
to the old Dodsworth MS. in the Bodleian 
Library — ''Gules on a fesse sable 3 mullets." 
The fesse, as we have seen, is a military belt; 
that it is sable means "wisdom, constancy, 
and also affliction. " But the significant modi- 
fication is the change of the three agricultural 
cinquefoils into three mullets or stars. The 
star, says Kent, ''signifies Honour, or that 
the first Bearer had studied Divinity or such 
things as made him shine in virtue or learn- 
ing." But it also has another significance. 
"The star derives its name (saith Vossius) 
from the Saxon word steoran, to stear a 
course ; and rightly enough, seeing it is by 
the Stars that the Ship is guided in her way. 
Hence it is that the Bearing of them in 
Heraldry is used to signify some excellency 
of Gifts in the Owner of the Arms, and par- 
ticularly to denote great Discoveries in the 
art of Navigation." The next modification 
in the Washington arms is the substitution 
of two bars for the fesse. These "barres," 



36 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

says Kent, indicate that their first bearer had 
built a fortification for his prince. 

It is in this last form that the Washington 
arms have remained to this day, — that is, 
through five hundred years, in that time 
every symbol on their shield has been justi- 
fied. The English Washingtons have been 
preeminent cultivators of land and eminent 
divines. The last of George Washington's 
English ancestors — his great-great-grandfa- 
ther — was a famous university preacher at 
Oxford. Of the nine chief representatives of 
the same family and name in England to- 
day, five are clergymen of the Church of 
England. As for steering by the stars, the 
Washingtons were for some centuries navi- 
gators, and early traces of the family are 
found in the Barbadoes, Bermudas, East In- 
dies, and the port of New-York. A John 
Washington was in the Barbadoes in 1655, 
and there is little doubt that he was the 
great-grandfather of the General. He re- 
turned in that year to England, administered 
the will of his mother, and four years later is 
found in Virginia. 

It may be interesting to give here some 
account of the Barons Washington of Ger- 
many. In 1799 a young officer of that family 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 37 

applied to General Washington for some 
position in the United States army, when 
war with France was imminent. In 1890 
I applied, through Sir Lyon Playfair, to Bar- 
on Karl Washington, of Munich, the present 
representative of these German Washing- 
tons, for the correspondence between his 
father and General Washington, and for some 
particulars concerning the family. I received 
from him an interesting reply (in German), 
with a copy of Washington's letter. 

*'I enclose a copy of our coat of arms, 
painted by my nephew Baron Stefan Wash- 
ington, LL.D., copied with exactness from 
our patent of nobility, which will completely 
acquaint you with the same. Concerning 
our motto, Exitiis acta probat, I can only tell 
you that it is in the patent, dated December 
12, 1829, where it is said that the Coat of 
Arms remains the same, with the addition 
only of the Baronial coronet [five-pointed]. 
So our family must have had the motto be- 
fore my late father was raised to the Bavarian 
nobility (created Frei Herr) at the date stated. 
George Washington's letter was wrapped in 
a special sheet of paper, the address writ- 
ten by himself. His seal shows a difference 



38 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

from ours in the crest, which my nephew 
has carefully indicated in his drawing. Be- 
neath the seal of Washington are written the 
words Exitus acta prohat, but not by his 
hand ; it resembles my father's writing, but 
I cannot be positive that he wrote it. Mr. 
Henry Horstmann, the United States Con- 
sul at Munich, formerly had the kindness to 
write to his government on this matter, and 
through him I received many interesting par- 
ticulars of the family of General Washington, 
but none that would demonstrate our de- 
scent from the same family. In the old fam- 
ily Bible, now belonging to Mr. Keurenaer, 
at The Hague, I find nothing concerning the 
time when James Washington left England, 
except a note of my father's writing in which 
he mentions the year as 1682. My father died 
in 1848. My half brother, still living, was 
then a Lieutenant of Cavalry. I was then in 
my fifteenth year, and my brother nineteen. 
My brother married a Duchess of Oldenburg 
in 1855, and is a widower since March 20 of 
this year [1891]. He has two sons, George 
and Stefan. The first married in 1883. My 
brother settled after his marriage in Austria, 
where he has a country-seat. In my 17th 
year I entered the Bavarian Cavalry, and 
commanded a squadron in the war of 1866, 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 39 

when I was so severely wounded, in a cav- 
alry attack, that 1 was forced to leave the 
service, — with the rank of Lieutenant-Col- 
onel [Oberstlieutenant]. If there is anything 
else you would wish to know, I would be 
very glad to communicate to you whatever 
may be within my knowledge." 

The letter of Washington to the late Baron 
is dated, ''Mount Vernon (in Virginia) 20th 
of January 1799": 

''Sir — 

" Through the goodness of Mr. Adams, the 
American Minister at Berlin, I am indebted 
for the safe conveyance of your letter, dated 
the 19th of October, in that city; and through 
the same medium I have the honor to present 
this acknowledgment of it. 

"There can be but little doubt, Sir, of our de- 
scending from the same stock, as the branches 
of it proceeded from the same country. At 
what time your ancestors left England is not 
mentioned. Mine came to America nearly 
one hundred and fifty years ago. 

"The regular course of application for mili- 
tary appointments is to the President of the 
United States through the Secretary of War. 
But it would be deceptions not to apprise 



40 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

you beforehand that it does not accord with 
the policy of this Government to bestow 
offices — civil or military — upon foreigners, 
to the exclusion of our own citizens. First, 
because there is an animated zeal in the 
latter to serve their country ; and secondly, 
because the former, seldom content with the 
rank they sustained in the service of their 
own country, look for higher appointments 
in this, which, when bestowed, unless there 
is obvious cause to justify the measure, is 
pregnant with discontent, and therefore is not 
often practiced, except in those branches of 
the military service which relate to engi- 
neering and gunnery; for in these our mili- 
tary establishment is defective, and men of 
known and acknowledged abilities, with am- 
ple testimonials thereof, would be certainly 
encouraged. 

"Deeming it better to give this candid de- 
tail than to raise hopes that might prove 
fallacious, is the best apology I can offer 
for my plaindealing. At the same time, be 
pleased to accept assurances of my being, 
Sir, your most obedient and very humble 
servant, 

" G. Washington. 

'' Mr. James Washington." 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 41 

The entry in the old family Bible at The 
Hague is as follows: ''James Washington left 
England about the middle of the seventeenth 
century, when the country was disturbed by 
civil wars ; he came to Holland and settled 
at Rotterdam. His brother went to the Eng- 
lish colonies in America, settled there as 
planter, and was the great-grandfather of the 
founder of the American Union — George 
Washington." To this Baron James Wash- 
ington has added the date 1682. 

There is little doubt that James Washing- 
ton, the first Baron, was more nearly correct 
in fixing the date of his ancestor's departure 
from England than the Bible at The Hague. 
For there was one Joseph Washington, Gent., 
of the Middle Temple, London, who in his 
will (probate 7th April, 1694) mentions a 
''brother James, of Rotterdam, merchant." 
This Joseph was a son of Robert Washington, 
of Leeds, England, and was born there ; but 
his father was born at Adwick-le-Street, York- 
shire, and Joseph's will disposes of lands in 
the latter place. The German family tradition 
is that James escaped to Holland because he 
was involved in the Monmouth affair. This 
would assign 1683, the year of the Rye House 
plot. The discovery of the Washington pedi- 



42 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

gree by Mr. Waters, as well as the date of 
Joseph's birth, proves the tradition that the 
founder of the German family was a brother 
of Col. John of Virginia erroneous. Never- 
theless, there was a migration of Yorkshire 
Washingtons to Virginia before and after that 
of Col. John, Washington's great-grandfather; 
and among them was one named John, who 
settled in Surrey County, Virginia, where he 
married Mary Flood, to whom he was be- 
trothed in 1658, — the year before the Gen- 
eral's ancestor arrived. 

It may be noticed that the shield of the 
German Washingtons is supported by grif- 
fins; and one of the crests used by the Gen- 
eral in Virginia was a griffin. It was used by 
his uncle. Major John Washington, as early 
as 1736, although his English ancestors used 
the raven. It is possible that Col . John Wash- 
ington's first wife was one of the Yorkshire 
Washingtons, or from some branch of theirs 
in Cumberland or Westmoreland, England. 

Let me conclude this heraldic chapter by 
calling attention to the poetic fact that George 
Washington, in whom the fame of his race 
culminated, fulfilled in one way or another 
every suggestion of the family arms. If there 
is any exception, it must be found in the in- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 43 

terpretation of the shield's stars as indicating 
the profession of divinity. That he was not 
knighted was due solely to his espousing the 
cause of the Revolution. Edmund Randolph, 
grandson of Sir John, declares that Wash- 
ington's name had already been enrolled for 
royal honor. That George Washington did 
not become a navigator was due to his 
mother, who canceled his commission. And 
finally the agricultural cinquefoils of the ear- 
liest Washington shield, unknown for five 
centuries, and first made known in these 
pages, returned in a sense to the shield of 
George Washington. It was he who modi- 
fied the shield into a sort of cornucopia, and 
surrounded it with foliations of wheat and 
other emblems of the farm, — a final attesta- 
tion that, whatever coats others might pur- 
chase or wear, with Washington the Arms 
still meant the Man. 





IV 



oAugmtine JVashington and his Family 




HE Washington family has 
passed into a conventionaliza- 
tion curiously resembling that 
of the Holy Family : the sav- 
ior of his country has for his 
mother a saintly Mary ; his fa- 
ther is kept in the background like Joseph ; he 
is born in a mean abode. The actual facts, 
if less pious, are more picturesque. General 
Washington himself describes his birthplace 
as a ''mansion," and we shall see that it was 
an extensive one ; his mother, with whatever 
striking qualities, was no saint ; and evidence 
can now be produced to show, in the Gen- 



BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 45 

eral's historically neglected father, a strong 
and scholarly man whose life was one of no- 
table adventures. 

Augustine Washington was born in West- 
moreland, Virginia, in 1694. On the death 
of his father, Lawrence, in March, 1698, his 
mother {nee Mildred Warner) went with her 
three children — John, Augustine, and Mil- 
dred—to England. The Warners and Wash- 
ingtons had been related to each other in 
England as early as the sixteenth century, 
as is shown by a brief will which I copied 
in Somerset House, London (Cobham, 31, 
P. C. C): 

''Will of Walter Washington, of Radway 
in the parish of Bishop's Ithington, in the 
Countie of Warwicke, Gent. Being asked 
by his uncle, George Warner, to whom he 
willed his goods, he answered that he gave 
all he had to his wife and children. Wit- 
nesses : Richard Hill, George Warner, John 
Murdon, Catharine Murdon, Dorothea Gaunt, 
Wodnefrode Browne. April 23, 1597. Ad- 
mon. issued to his widow Alicie Washington." 

This Walter Washington was the great- 
great-granduncle of Augustine Washington. 



46 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

His descendants, and probably some of the 
Warners, continued long in Warwickshire, 
and the widow of Lawrence may have taken 
her children there. We first find her, how- 
ever, in Whitehaven, Cumberland County, 
England, married to a second husband, 
George Gale, in that town there was a 
family of Washingtons, though their con- 
nection with the Virginians has not yet 
been made out. In the parish register of 
St. Nicholas Church, Whitehaven, appears 
the baptism, January 25, 1 700-1, of Mildred, 
daughter of George Gale; the mother was 
buried January 30, and the infant March 26, 
of the same year. In the will of Mildred 
Gale, dated January 24, proved March 18, 
1700-1, she says: "By an Indenture of Mar- 
riage made and executed by and between 
John Washington one of the executors of my 
late husband's Will of the one part, and my 
present husband George Gale with my own 
consent and approbation thereof of the other 
part, bearing date 16 May in the present year 
1700 I am empowered to demise by Will or 
other instrument the estate and legacy of my 
late husband to the use and purposes therein 
mentioned." She bequeaths to her hus- 
band ^1000, and divides the residue of her 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 47 

property equally between him and her chil- 
dren. The John Washington mentioned was 
the son of Lawrence, the younger immigrant, 
who had a sister in England, and may have 
been on a visit to her when the marriage 
settlements were made between the widow 
and George Gale. Or it may be that the 
settlements and the marriage took place in 
Virginia. When George Gale took pro- 
bate of his wife's will, he gave bond for 
the education of her children, John, Au- 
gustine, and Mildred. There was a famous 
grammar-school at Appleby, in the neigh- 
borhood of Whitehaven, and to that the 
boys (John, b. 1690, Augustine, b. 1694) 
were sent. About the year 17 12 George 
Gale removed to Maryland, but whether the 
brothers John and Augustine returned with 
him does not appear. 

John married Katharine Whiting, of Glou- 
cester County, Virginia, where he settled, 
apparently at a place called ''High Gate," on 
the Pianketank River, in Petsworth parish, of 
which he was a vestryman. He bore the 
title of major, but lived a quiet life. A letter 
of his exists, dated July 12, 1744, to Gary & 
Co., London, ordering a tombstone, no doubt 
that of his wife, still seen at High Gate : 



48 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

''Underneath this stone lyeth interred the 
body of Mrs. Katharine Washington, wife of 
Major John Washington, and daughter of 
Col. Henry Whiting by Elizabeth his wife, 
born May 22, 1694. She was in her several 
stations a loving and obedient wife, a tender 
and indulgent mother, a kind and considerate 
mistress, and above all an exemplary Chris- 
tian. She departed this life February 7, 1743, 
aged 49 years, to the great grief of all that 
had the happiness of her acquaintance." 

On this tomb is the design of an urn with 
four mastiff heads, and surrounded with foli- 
age. Near it is a tomb with the following 
inscription : 

''In a well grounded certainty of an immor- 
tal resurrection, here lie the remains of Eliza- 
beth, the daughter of John and Katharine 
Washington. She was a maiden virtuous 
without reservedness, wise without affecta- 
tion, beautiful without knowing it. She left 
this life on the 3rd day of February 1736, in 
the twentieth year other age." 

The design on this tomb is a foliated urn, 
with three stars on it, and a griffin's head 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 49 

above. This is the first instance I can find 
of the use of the griffin by any Washington. 
The crest of the English families was a raven, 
or sometimes an eagle, and the griffin as 
a seal first appears unmistakably on letters 
of George Washington. Mrs. Mary S. Payne 
of Kentucky, to whom I am indebted for 
notes concerning her Lewis ancestors, thinks 
the griffin on this urn probably that of the 
Lewis crest, the first wife of Colonel Fielding 
Lewis having been a daughter ( Katharine) of 
Major Washington ; but in that case the grif- 
fin would have had the bloody hand in its 
mouth, the especial characteristic of the 
Lewis crest. 

One of Major Washington's sons, Warner, 
married Hannah, daughter of William Fairfax; 
another, Henry, married a Thacker. It appears 
by a letter first printed in this book that Ma- 
jor Washington died September i, 1746. His 
sister Mildred (b. 1696) married Roger Greg- 
ory, of Stafford County, Virginia. She was^ 
George Washington's godmother. The Greg- 
orys had three daughters who married the 
brothers Thornton, of Spottsylvania, becom- 
ing the ancestors of General Woodford of the 
Revolution, judge Harry Innes, Senator Beck, 
and other eminent men. About 1733 Mildred 

7 ( 



50 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Gregory married, id, Colonel Henry Willis, 
the founder of Fredericksburg. It is said that 
Colonel Willis vainly courted three maidens 
in youth, all of whom he married as widows. 
His second wife, the widow Brown {nee 
Washington), was also named Mildred ; she 
was George Washington's grandaunt. She 
was, by her first husband, ancestor of some of 
the Lees and Crittendens of Kentucky ; while 
from her union with Colonel Willis sprang 
branches of the Willis and Minor and Taylor 
families of Virginia, and of the Greens, Bar- 
bours, and Marshalls of Kentucky. A grand- 
son of Colonel Henry Willis, namely Colonel 
Byrd Willis, married a granddaughter of Col- 
onel Fielding and Betty (Washington) Lewis, 
and one of his (Colonel Byrd Willis's) daugh- 
ters married Prince Achille Murat, and figured 
at court in Paris. 

We now pass to Augustine, the father of 
George Washington. On coming of age, he 
married (April 20, 17 15) Jane, daughter of 
Caleb Butler, an eminent lawyer of West- 
moreland, the "trusty and well-beloved 
friend" to whom Ann (Pope), the widow of 
■ Colonel John Washington, had given power 
of attorney. Augustine purchased of John, his 
elder brother, the old family mansion, ' ' Wake- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 51 

field," — SO called, at what time is not known, 
probably from some association in the family 
traditions with the Yorkshire town. By Jane 
Butler, his first wife, Augustine had four 
children, — Butler, d. infant; Jane, d. 1735; 
Major Lawrence of Mount Vernon, b. 17 18; 
Augustine (called Austin), b. 1720. 

In 1725 Augustine is mentioned as ''Captain 
Washington"; he at one time certainly com- 
manded a ship, and it is probable that it began 
with his carrying iron to England and return- 
ing with convict laborers. The Principio Iron 
Company (English), after some years' success- 
ful work on the Patapsco, Maryland, had in 
1724, if not earlier, negotiated with ''Captain 
Augustine Washington " for the opening of a 
furnace at Accokeek, his estate in Stafford 
County, Virginia. In the Tennsylvania Mag- 
aiine of History and biography (April, July, 
and October, 1887), Mr. Henry Whitely has 
published interesting researches concerning 
the Principio Company. A letter from John 
England, a practical iron-master in charge of 
the works, to the company in England, dated 
January 5, 1725, has the following concerning 
the Accokeek furnace and Captain Washing- 
ton : "As to ye dividing ye shares of ye new 
founded works in Virginia, have advised with 



52 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

a Counselor about it . . . who tells me yt ex- 
cept some person here is appointed yr lawful! 
atturney, by a power of atturney from you to 
signe for you here, yt if your deed or deeds 
come over for you to signe in England and 
either of you should dy before, or alter your 
minds yt you dont sign, then it setts Wash- 
ington at liberty, and all ye work is at an end 
... If you see fitt to make Capt Washington 
a small present of wine (along ye Virginia 
Cargo) and to signifie to him yt what I have 
done with him on yr behalfe you like and 
approve on, or to that effect, yt 1 leave to 
your Consideration either to do it or not." 
This seems to show that Captain Washington 
had himself conveyed to England the Virginia 
cargo, probably the first. The practical work 
at the Accokeek furnace was superintended 
by a founder of Principio, Captain Washing- 
ton's contract being to cart the ore from the 
mines to the furnace, two miles, at the rate 
of 205. per ton of pig-iron, and, after it was 
cast, to cart it to a landing on the Potomac, 
six miles. This was done by the captain's 
workmen and oxen (''three hundred weight 
being a load for a cart drawn by eight oxen "). 
The increasing business was probably one 
reason for the Captain's going to England 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 53 

himself, as he could bring back laborers. 
England was then anxious to send convicts, 
especially political offenders, to the colonies, 
and Virginia was giving grants of land for 
their importation. Record exists of one such 
voyage and importation of convicts by Cap- 
tain Washington, and there is also evidence 
of his personal intimacy with gentlemen in 
England. 

The wife of Captain Augustine Washington 
died in 1728, — her gravestone is at "Wake- 
field," — and on March 6, 1730-1, he mar- 
ried Mary Ball. She was the daughter of 
Colonel Joseph Ball (whose homestead was 
"Epping Forest," Lancaster County, near the 
mouth of the Rappahannock) by his second 
wife, the widow Johnson. Mrs. Ella Bas- 
sett Washington {Century, April, 1892) says : 
"That the bride was blonde and beautiful 
both history and tradition tell, and of the 
bridegroom in his fortieth year a description 
has been transmitted from one generation to 
another. Mary Washington's description of 
her husband is confirmed by the testimony 
of contemporaries — a noble-looking man, of 
distinguished bearing, tall and athletic, with 
fair, florid complexion, brown hair, and fine 
gray eyes." Although the word "history" 



54 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

can hardly be used with exactness in such 
descriptions, — there being no verifiable doc- 
uments concerning the personal appearance 
of George Washington's parents, — the family 
traditions, as reported by one of its members, 
are of some interest. 

The Rev. C. C. Colton, an English author, 
states that Captain Washington first met his 
bride in England. He was thrown out of a 
carriage and into the company of a lady who 
emigrated with him to Virginia. The incident 
is said to have occurred in Cheshire (Lacon, 
ii., p. 1 12). The clergyman's story has been 
discredited because Lossing connected it with 
the notion that George Washington was born 
in England, in disregard of the General's own 
statement and the record of his Virginian 
godfathers and godmother. It now appears, 
however, by the facts revealed in this book, 
that Colton knew what he was writing about. 
When Col. Joseph Ball died, in 17 11, his 
widow, who was an Englishwoman, disap- 
pears with her two children — Eliza Johnson 
(child of her first husband) and Mary Ball — 
from the records and registers of Virginia. 
Forty years later Colonel Ball's son purchased 
relics of Virginia Balls from a Mrs. Johnson in 
England. (Hayden.) Mary Ball isfirsttraceable 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 55 

in Virginia as Mary Washington, and her 
letters to her half-brother in London show 
intimacy with his wife, who seems to have 
never been in America. Now that we have 
letters showing Captain Washington's friend- 
ships in England, along with the other facts, 
there is no reason for discrediting the cler- 
gyman's statement that he there first met 
Mary Ball. 

Captain Washington brought his young 
wife to his home on the Potomac, ''Wake- 
field." In describing that house as a small 
one, popular writers have followed each other 
like a flock of sheep ; but even a flock of 
sheep, grazing over the debris of ''Wake- 
field," might discover, at least to an observing 
eye, that it was a large mansion. A little 
digging reveals massive brick foundations, 
and all the features of the ground indicate a 
noble residence. The site of the large flower- 
garden is traceable by certain outlines, and 
also by descendants of the flowers once cul- 
tivated there. There are remains of a large 
brick-walled dairy, built underground. How- 
ever, the usual description of "Wakefield "as 
little more than a hovel, is now proved fic- 
titious by the recently discovered inventory 
of its contents. 



56 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

This inventory (in the Havemeyer collec- 
tion) was made on the decease of Austin 
(1762), to whom his father had bequeathed 
it. There is furniture for eight bedrooms, 
and much for other rooms. 

Here a chorus will cry that the original 
house had been burned. Has not Lossing 
given all the details of the fire ? Neverthe- 
less, the fire did not occur until the Christmas 
Eve of 1779. But may not Austin have en- 
larged the house ? Possibly ; but there is no 
evidence of any alteration. General Wash- 
ington wrote to Sir Isaac Heard that his 
brother Austin occupied ''the ancient man- 
sion seat " until his death. And why should 
not "Wakefield" have been a grand place? 
Captain Augustine Washington's father, Law- 
rence, divided between his three children 
nearly five thousand acres and much personal 
property ; and both of the Captain's wives 
possessed substantial estates. 

Here, then, Washington was born. There 
exists a note of Captain Augustine, written in 
1733 to Mr. Jeffries, saying that he and his 
wife will make him (Jeffries) a visit on their 
way to Moratico, a homestead of the Balls on 
the lower Rappahannock. He says they will 
bring with them their ''baby George." The 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 57 

substance of this note has been repeated to 
me by Mr. Lawrence Washington, of Alexan- 
dria, who had read it. This is probably the 
earliest allusion to George Washington ; for 
the entry of his birth and baptism, in the fam- 
ily Bible, is of such exceptional character as to 
suggest insertion at a later time. 

In 1 7 34 the neighborhood in Westmoreland 
was enlivened by the settlement there of the 
new agent of Lord Fairfax, namely, William 
Fairfax, who brought with him an accom- 
plished wife {nee Deborah Clarke, of Salem, 
Massachusetts) and family. A warm friend- 
ship was formed between these families. 
William Fairfax had an aunt in Yorkshire, 
England, who had married a Washington. 
Whether Lawrence Washington met his fu- 
ture wife, Ann Fairfax, before his departure 
for school in England is uncertain. 

Towards the close of 1734, or early in 1735, 
Captain Washington came to the conclusion 
that ''Wakefield" did not agree with the 
health of his children (there were then four 
with him), and removed to his estate on the 
upper Potomack, — then known by its In- 
dian name, Epsewasson, now Mount Vernon. 
Although the latter name was not given until 
some years later, the place will be spoken of 



58 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

in these pages as Mount Vernon. The estate 
had been Colonel John Washington's moiety 
of 5000 acres, given him and Colonel Nicholas 
Spencer for importing one hundred laborers 
into the colony. Colonel John's son Lawrence 
possessed near its boundary a mill and, prob- 
ably near this, a house, wherein dwelt at the 
time of his death Mrs. Minton and Mrs. Wil- 
liams. The estate was bequeathed to the 
Captain's sister Mildred (Gregory), of whom 
he had bought it (May, 1 726) for £ 1 80. With 
Mount Vernon, therefore, were associated the 
earliest memories of George and Betty Wash- 
ington, and there the younger children were 
born. 

The first to discover the error of biogra- 
phers in stating that the Washingtons moved 
from "Wakefield" to the farm near Freder- 
icksburg was the Rev. Dr. Philip Slaughter, 
historiographer of the diocese of Virginia ; 
though the true facts do not appear in any of 
his works, being found after his days as an 
author were past. Alas ! how do I mourn 
that I cannot compensate that venerable 
friend for the information entrusted to me by 
hastening to gladden his heart with the reve- 
lations of these newly discovered letters ! I 
cannot forbear introducing here some brief 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 59 

tribute to our old master in Virginia lore, by 
whose death (June 12, 1890) all historical 
students are bereaved indeed. Dr. Slaughter 
(born October 26, 1808, in Culpeper County) 
was not only the author of the historical and 
biographical monographs bearing his name, 
but contributed something to most of the 
work of that kind done in Virginia during his 
time, including the important volumes of his 
friend, Bishop Meade. A thorough and exact 
investigator, caring little for his own fame as 
a discoverer, but much for the truth of history, 
he was consulted by historical writers long 
before his appointment (1879) as historiogra- 
pher, and freely distributed his stores of in- 
formation, asking neither credit or return. 
He was honored by his fellow-students in 
the University of Virginia, where he grad- 
uated in 1825, and was commissioned by 
them to invite Lafayette to a reception. He 
told me of the emotion with which he met 
that famous man and also three ex-presidents 
at Monticello, — Jefferson, Madison, and Mon- 
roe. Dr. Slaughter began his career as a 
lawyer, but after five years of prosperous 
practice left the bar for the pulpit. His sym- 
pathies were deeply stirred for the slave, and 
he was one of the first to throw himself into 



6o BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

the cause of African colonization. In 1850 he 
founded and edited in Richmond the Virginia 
Coloni^ationist. In 1856 he established him- 
self in Culpeper County, Cedar Mountain, 
where he built a church at his own expense, 
and preached without remuneration, minister- 
ing with especial care to the negroes. His 
church was destroyed in the terrible battle of 
Cedar Mountain, and his invaluable library, 
containing precious manuscripts accumulated 
through many years, pillaged, torn, scattered 
by the contending armies. When he returned 
to his home, he found bits of his treasured 
papers strewn about the grounds. He told 
me that a friend, visiting Philadelphia, re- 
marked on a centre-table there one of his 
valuable books, containing his book-mark. 
He never applied for it, and in narrating these 
things the great-hearted clergyman uttered 
no murmur. When I visited him at Cedar 
Mountain in the year before his death, he ap- 
peared to me a sort of avatar of the old Vir- 
ginian race, whose annals he had so largely 
recovered and preserved. His ancestors and 
those of his wife (nee Semmes, of Alexandria) 
had lived in the same region for two hundred 
and fifty years before them. They had in- 
herited traditions so vivid that the' scholar 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 6l 

talked of the Spotswoods, Washingtons, and 
other worthies as if they were old friends. 
His mind was clear, his memory exact, his 
heart full of sunshine, as if he were still in 
life's morning instead of his eightieth year. 
With his wife and children around him, in 
his pretty home, commanding a beautiful 
landscape, honored by his State, beloved by 
all who knew him, with a life of long and 
faithful services to humanity and to literature 
to look back on, the historiographer remains 
in my memory as an almost ideal figure. Al- 
though he had suffered many losses, he had 
nothing to grieve for except that he was un- 
able to publish to the world the results of his 
later investigations ; and these he carefully 
made known to me, in words and by letters. 
As I was last parting from him, he said, 
''Since the recent discovery of the ancient 
Truro Vestry-book and Manuscript, con- 
taining so much of interest concerning the 
Washingtons and others, I have longed for a i 
new lease" of strength to edit and publish it. 
Can you not find in the ^dU some wealthy 
gentlemen who will provide the means for ^^.- 
publishing this most important document ? A '. f, 
page containing autographs of the vestrymen 
— Washington, George Mason, and others — 



62 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

has been carried off and is now in the New- 
York Historical Society, and some few parts 
are missing or damaged, but the substantial 
historical value of the manuscripts is not im- 
paired. I must leave these things to younger 
men. 1 feel a great satisfaction in delivering 
to you all the information I possess. It is a 
relief to know that if it be of any worth it 
will not die with me." 

Dr. Slaughter's later and unpublished re- 
searches, so far as they bear upon the Wash- 
ington family, I am happily able to present in 
his own words. The letter was not intended 
for publication, but is one of several written 
for use in connection with investigations of 
my own. The ''convict story," to which 
the letter refers, is that of the Rev. Jonathan 
Boucher, George Washington's early friend 
(teacher of young Custis, his wife's son), who 
wrote that he (Washington) ''was taught by 
a convict servant whom his father bought for 
a school-master." 

"July 24, 1889. 
"Dear Mr. Conway : 

" I was on the eve of writing to communi- 
cate an item to your 'convict story,' but was 
waiting for an answer to some queries put 
to you some weeks ago about Acquia Church 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 63 

— which may have miscarried. The follow- 
ing facts are authenticated by the Records, 
and have a bearing upon your inquiry. I set 
them down as they occur to me, and your 
analytical mind can reduce them to order and 
draw the true conclusions, for which 1 have 
not time just now, being surrounded by com- 
pany, and under pressure of the Press, calling 
for copy, etc. 

"\n 1730 Prince William County was 
formed from Stafford and King George, and 
extended from Chapawamsic Creek and Deep 
Run along the Potomac to the Blue Ridge. 
In 1732 Truro Parish was instituted, compre- 
hending all of Prince William above Occo- 
quan and Bull Run, and north of Ashby's Gap. 
Augustine and Lawrence Washington, father 
and son, represented it in the House of Bur- 
gesses (exact date not remembered). On the 
1 8th of November, 1735, Augustine Wash- 
ington was sworn as vestryman of Truro 
Parish, and also signed the Minutes in August, 

1736. He recommended Charles Green as 
candidate for orders to the Bishop of London. 
He went to England, and returned in July, 

1737, in a ship from London to Potomac, 
* with convi^s.' A fellow passenger. Captain 
Hugh French, died of 'gaol distemper con- 



64 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

traded on board ' — Captain Washington was 
reported in 'good health.' He was present 
at a Vestry 13th of August, 1737, and Charles 
Green was elected as Rector of Truro Parish. 
To be a Vestryman one must be a Parish- 
ioner. He was present at the Vestry Octo- 
ber, 1737. There is a gap in the Vestry Book 
from this date to October, 1739, and his name 
does not again appear. 

/'Augustine Washington, in 1740, conveyed 
to Lawrence [his son] 2500 acres. This deed 
was recorded in the General Court Office, 
October 23, 1740 (burned in the late war). 
The Will of Augustine Washington confirm- 
ing this deed was recorded in King George 
County, May 1743. The Will of Lawrence 
Washington devised [the reversion of] these 
2500 acres to George Washington in 1751 
(Mount Vernon). The probable inference 
from these facts is that he [Augustine Wash- 
ington] lived at Mount Vernon until 1739, 
and moved to King George where his Will 
was recorded. Augustine Washington died 
12 April 1743. I doubt that the Deep Run 
residence is probable. Truro Parish and King 
George answer all requirements. 

" 1 tried fully to identify the convict Sexton 
with our ' Hobby,' but the facts refuse to ac- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 65 

commodate themselves to the theory, plausi- 
ble and seductive as it may be. His name 
was William Grove. He was appointed by 
the Rector (Green) Clerk [of Truro]. But 
there was a division of sentiment about it, 
and Green appointed another man. Where- 
upon the friends of Grove got a mandamus 
to compel his acceptance; but Grove mod- 
estly declined the contest and took the post 
of Sexton. So our ' Hobby ' will have, like 
one higher in office if not in morals, to 'go 
to his own place ' — not meaning any disre- 
spect to Falmouth or Fredericksburg. 

"\ shall be pleased to hear the result of 
Mr. Waters's researches. I have a working 
hypothesis founded upon the omission of a 
generation by Sparks, — thus missing the line 
of descent. 

" I shall look for your Washingtoniana with 
much interest, and expect to derive pleasure 
and profit from it. 

''Yours very truly, 

"?. Slaughter." 

Dr. Slaughter had a strong impression, 
which I share, that Washington was sent at 
first to an infant school near Falmouth, a vil- 
lage fifty years older than its more important 



66 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

neighbor, Fredericksburg. I was not able 
before his death to do more than suggest the 
theory to which he refers,— namely, that 
''Hobby "was a nickname of the convict de- 
clared by the Rev. Jonathan Boucher to have 
been purchased by Captain Washington as 
a schoolmaster, and to have taught George. 
Also, that this teacher was that same convict 
whom the Truro rector, who owed his place 
to Captain Washington, tried to make clerk 
and did make sexton. This occurred imme- 
diately after Captain Washington came in 
with his ship full of convicts, in 1737. When 
he removed to the neighborhood of Freder- 
icksburg, 1739-40, he would naturally take 
this educated, and probably political, convict 
with him, and may have got him a place as 
sexton at Falmouth. Parson McGuire, a con- 
nection of the family, states that ''Hobby" 
was "at once a teacher and sexton." Grove 
was certainly both in Truro, and possibly on 
the Rappahannock,— this being before the 
Fredericksburg school to which the Wash- 
ington children afterward went was fairly 
opened, and when they were too small to be 
trusted to the ferry. 

One of our letters renders it probable that 
the removal of Captain Washington to the 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 67 

neighborhood of Fredericksburg, in 1739-40, 
was due to the burning of his house at Mount 
Vernon. No doubt this was the fire which 
Custis, Lossing, and others have confused 
with that which destroyed "Wakefield "forty 
years later. 

Tradition has hitherto said that Lawrence 
Washington was educated at Oxford. Had 
that been true, his name would have been 
found there ; and now that his attendance at 
the Appleby School is proved, the tradition 
may be dismissed until some verification has 
appeared. The year of his entrance in the 
school has not yet been discovered, although 
it will probably be found by the gentlemen at 
Appleby, whom our new-found letters have 
interested. Lawrence returned, probably, in 
1738, and certainly full of loyal enthusiasm 
for England and Vernon, and of rage against 
the cisatlantic Spanish. The governor of Vir- 
ginia was now William — presently Sir Wil- 
liam — Gooch, who had won some fame in 
Queen Anne's wars, and was rather popular 
in the colony. He was in 1740 brigadier-gen- 
eral in the British army, and colonel of the 
Virginia regiment in which Lawrence, aged 
twenty-two, was given the commission of 
captain. The disasters which the British 



68 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

forces under Admiral Vernon met at Carta- 
gena are recorded in every history and ency- 
clopedia, so that the reader need not be 
detained by them here, though it may be 
found interesting to compare with the con- 
ventionalized accounts some passages in the 
letters to Major Lawrence printed in this vol- 
ume. For the present chapter I select, how- 
ever, a letter written to Captain Augustine 
Washington. This, which is the only letter 
I have seen written to General Washington's 
father, is from Richard Yates, master of the 
Appleby Grammar School, in which his eldest 
sons had been educated. 

''To Augustine Washington, Esq. 

''Appleby, Oct. 9, 1741. 
"Dear Sir, 

"In the midst of your late calamity wch. 

you suffer'd by fire, for which I am sincerely 

concern'd, there's a more sensible pleasure to 

find room for congratulation : and I do most 

heartily give you joy of your son's happy 

escape out of ye midst of a danger yt prov'd 

fatal to so many about him, and I pray God 

he may live long to enjoy ye satisfaction and 

benefit of his advancement in ye army as well 

as to give a comfort to his father. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 69 

''Mr. Deane (whose intentions and conduct 
are and always have been so friendly to you 
and your sons) will say enough to you about 
your son Austin's desire to study ye Law, so 
yt He will spare me ye trouble of saying more 
than yt, if you think it convenient for him to 
be educated that way, I believe he will take 
abundance of pains to shine in a profession 
on which he has set his heart. Not but that 
I have that opinion of ye Lad's goodness yt if 
he thought it were not agreeable to your sen- 
timents he wd reconcile his thoughts to any 
other employment you shd think most expe- 
dient for him. 

''I am, with my best respects to Major 
Washington, 

" Dear Sir, 
''Your most affectionate Friend, and 
Very Humble Servant, 
"Ri: Yates." 

This letter is not addressed to any particu- 
lar place, probably because the writer did not 
know just where the captain had settled 
down. Every ship captain would know how 
to convey the letter. It is endorsed by a 
word not easily made out, but which 1 be- 
lieve meant for "forwarded." The reader 



70 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

will observe the indications in this letter that 
Captain Augustine Washington and his bro- 
ther John, the ' ' Major Washington " of Yates's 
letter, were personally acquainted with these 
gentlemen at Appleby. 

It has been stated by some writers that 
Major Lawrence Washington built the man- 
sion-house at Mount Vernon. But this does 
not appear to be the fact. After the burning 
of his house near the mill (if that was the 
locality), Captain Washington seems to have 
built another house, and furnished it for his 
son, perhaps with some hope of a marriage 
between Lawrence and the daughter of his 
friend Hon. William Fairfax. Lawrence, as 
eldest son, would naturally have inherited 
the family seat in Westmoreland, but preferred 
Mount Vernon, perhaps because of its prox- 
imity to Belvoir, the home of the Fairfaxes. 
In the will of Captain Augustine it is shown 
that Lawrence was then (April ii, 1743) re- 
siding in a house given him by his father. 
The estate is bequeathed, ''and all the slaves. 
Cattle and Stocks of all kinds whatsoever, and 
all the household Furniture whatsoever now 
in and upon or which have been commonly 
possessed by my said son together with the 
said Tract of Land and Mill." The captain 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 71 

died April 12, 1743. In July of the same 
year Lawrence was residing in the new man- 
sion, being certainly there before his marriage 
on the 19th of that month. As he was in the 
West Indies from 1740 to the latter part of 
1742, we may suppose that the mansion was 
mainly built in his absence, and no doubt it 
was erected by his father as a gift. 

Meanwhile the family was residing on the 
farm across the river from Fredericksburg, 
— then in King George, now in Stafford 
County. It was originally a purchase from 
the Strother estate of 280 acres, on which 
stood a house of which A. K. Phillips, a ven- 
erable citizen of Fredericksburg, writes me 
that his father remembered it, in 1806, as "a 
plain wooden structure of moderate size, and 
painted a dark red color." It long ago dis- 
appeared, and the picture in Lossing's "Mary 
and Martha Washington " is not authentic. 

Toward the close of June, 1742, the cap- 
tain's son Austin returned home from school 
in Appleby, England. His plan for adopting 
the legal profession does not appear to have 
found favor, or possibly the father's failing 
strength did not admit of its being fully con- 
sidered, for we presently find Austin married 
(to Ann Aylett) and settled at "Wakefield." 



72 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Captain Augustine Washington appears to 
have been the only American who entered 
very actively into the iron enterprise. The 
Principio Company was divided into twelve 
shares, of which he owned one, the rest 
being owned by Englishmen. His farm on 
the Rappahannock was not far from the Acco- 
keek works, and his enterprise was such that 
they were left at his death the most valuable 
in the country. ''In 1750," says Whitely, 
''it [Accokeek] sent to the company in Eng- 
land four hundred and ten tons of pig-iron, — 
about one-fifth the entire quantity exported 
from Maryland and Virginia for the year." 

Near the close of the captain's life a ques- 
tion arose between him and his brother John 
concerning the boundary between the estates 
bequeathed them by their father in West- 
moreland. The brothers agreed to submit 
the matter to Daniel McCarty and Richard 
Bernard, entering into bonds of ^^looo each 
to abide by the decision of the referees. The 
original papers and drawings are here, but 
cannot now be comprehended without enter- 
ing into uninteresting details. The decision, 
duly signed and sealed by the brothers, was 
admitted to record in Westmoreland, April 
12, 1743,— the day on which Captain Au- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 73 

gustine Washington died at his house near 
Fredericksburg. 

Captain Washington caught his death in 
the same way that his son, the general, did 
at the end of the century. He was over- 
taken by a storm while riding, caught cold, 
and died of some acute complications. The 
Rev. Dr. Edward C. McGuire (who married a 
granddaughter of Betty [Washington] Lewis, 
and was forty-five years rector of St. George's 
Church) published a little book on ''The Re- 
ligious Opinions and Character of Washing- 
ton " (1836), in which one occasionally meets 
with details evidently obtained by personal 
investigation. Dr. McGuire's work proves 
that at the time it was written there was no 
tradition in the family of any fire at Wake- 
field, removal from which was caused, he 
says, by its unhealthiness. Concerning the 
death of Captain Washington, his account 
may be depended on. 

" Between him [George Washington] and 
his father, it would seem that a delightful in- 
tercourse always subsisted ; it being a matter 
of regret to the latter that he was obliged to 
be separated from his child even during the 
hours of school. Mr. Washington survived 



74 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

his removal from Westmoreland [Prince Wil- 
liam] but a few years. He had time enough 
allowed him, however, to mark the budding 
virtues of his son. It was in the Easter holi- 
days that Mr. Washington was taken sick. 
George was absent at the time, on a visit to 
some of his acquaintances at Chotanct, King 
George [then in Stafford] County. He was 
sent for after his father's sickness became 
serious, and reached the paternal abode in 
time to witness the last struggle and receive 
the parting benediction of his beloved parent." 

Captain Washington left more than five 
thousand acres of land, — the estates being in 
Prince William, Westmoreland, King George, 
and Stafford, — also a mill near Mount Ver- 
non. Twenty-two slaves are bequeathed, 
besides others, not enumerated, devised to 
Austin by his mother. The shares in iron- 
works in Maryland and Virginia are be- 
queathed to Lawrence. George is left the 
farm near Fredericksburg, two lots in that 
town, some land at Deep Run (quantity not 
specified, probably small), and the reversion 
of Mount Vernon, in case Lawrence should 
die without heir. Betty receives two young 
female slaves, and four hundred pounds ster- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 75 

ling, when she is eighteen, to be paid by 
Lawrence out of the iron-works, — a very 
substantial bequest at the time. 

The captain's will is the first of his line 
that omits a profession of Christian faith. It 
opens with the words " In the name of God, 
Amen," this being also the only religious ex- 
pression in the wills of his sons, so far as 
they have been made public. Mrs. Throck- 
morton, daughter of Warner Washington by 
his wife Hannah (Fairfax), told M. Bayard 
that Captain Washington was a deist. He 
reports in his book of travels: " Elle me dit 
qu'elle le croyait de bonne foi qu'a la mort du 
pere de Washington, qui etait un deiste, le fils 
devint tres religieux." Freethinker though 
he was. Captain Washington was active in 
parish affairs. Dr. Slaughter once told me 
that he thought modern critics were making 
a mistake in entirely discrediting Parson 
Weems's "Life of Washington" entirely be- 
cause of some fanciful stories, like that of the 
cherry-tree. For several of the anecdotes he 
believed there was some basis, though the 
parson's passion for embellishment naturally 
excited distrust. I am inclined to think that 
there may have been some basis for the fol- 
lowing anecdote, though the parson, or the 



76 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

lady who related it to him, has turned it into 
a pious allegory, and pointed it with a moral 
that no deist could believe. 

" On a fine morning in the fall of 1737 Mr. 
Washington, having George by the hand, 
came to the door and asked Cousin Wash- 
ington [his wife] and myself [the lady who 
tells Weems the story] to walk with him to 
the orchard, promising to show us a fine 
sight. On arriving at the orchard we were 
presented with a fine sight indeed. The 
whole earth, as far as we could see, was 
strewed with fruit ; and yet the trees were 
bending under the weight of apples. ' Now, 
George,' said his father, Mook here, my son! 
Don't you remember, when this good cousin 
of yours brought you that fine, large apple 
last spring, how hardly I could prevail on 
you to divide with your brothers and sister, 
though I promised that if you would but do 
it, the Almighty would give you a plenty of 
apples this fall ? ' Poor George could not say 
a word ; but, hanging down his head, looked 
quite confused. 'Now look up, my son,' 
continued his father, ' and see how richly the 
Almighty has made good my promise to you! ' 
George looked, in silence, on the wide wilder- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 77 

ness of fruit ; then, lifting his eyes to his fa- 
ther, he said, with emotion, 'Well, pa, only 
forgive me this time, and see if I am ever so 
stingy any more.'" 

The " venerable lady " who related this has 
probably, by a familiar fallacy of memory, 
disguised in her own pietism some casual re- 
proof of selfishness illustrated by the orchard's 
generosity ; but this legend of the captain's 
affectionate care for his son's moral nature is 
valuable. That he was very careful about 
the education of his children is proved by his 
sending Lawrence and Augustine to Appleby 
Grammar School in England, where he had 
himself been educated. Concerning this rev- 
elation of our letters, I have consulted the 
Rev. Canon Mathews, Vicar of St. Lawrence, 
Appleby, and have from him the following 
important communication : 

''Since I wrote to you 1 have had the op- 
portunity of consulting an elderly clergyman, 
a native of Appleby, whose father was for 
many years the classical Master at Appleby 
Grammar School. He informs me that he 
can recollect when he was a boy a search 
being made into the connection of the Wash- 



78 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

ington family; and his father ascertained 
beyond a doubt that General Washington's 
father, and probably his grandfather, cer- 
tainly several members of the family, were 
educated at Appleby Grammar School. My 
informant's father, whose memory went back 
well into last century, was also a native of the 
very locality from which the Washingtons 
sprang. They lived for some generations on 
the borders of Yorkshire and Westmoreland 
[England], now in one county, now in the 
other; — in the valley of Ravenstonedale in 
Westmoreland, or in the parish of Sedbergh 
in Yorkshire. Part of the boundary between 
these parishes — which is here the boun- 
dary also between the counties — is known 
by the name of IVashingham in old parish 
records, and it is believed that the name 
arose from this. My informant says he 
believes that, in common with a large pro- 
[ portion of the inhabitants of that secluded 
\ district, the ancestors of the Washingtons 
i were originally Flemings, who were driven 
out from the Low Countries in the persecu- 
tions of Alva. They were strongly Protes- 
tant, and settled in these mountain regions 
partly for the sake of the water power which 
was useful in their trade of weaving, which 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 79 

they brought with them and followed largely. 
The Washingtons here were for some time 
White-smiths." 

While the present chapter contains, as I 
believe, the only investigation ever made in- 
to the character and career of Washington's 
father, his mother has been a favorite theme, 
especially, one must add, of fiction. Pious 
romances concerning her have so long passed 
for fact, that the publication of some prosaic 
facts concerning her has caused a reaction, and 
counter-romances are appearing. As I write 
one of these is going the rounds of the press, 
purporting to be the substance of a letter 
from General Washington to his mother, de- 
clining to receive her in his house on the 
ground that she was unfit to meet his guests. 
The letter out of which this scandalous para- 
graph is forged may be read in the eleventh 
volume of Ford's ''Writings of Washington." 
It was written in 1787, when his mother was 
eighty-one, much broken by age, and is full 
of filial devotion. He incloses her money, and 
tries to persuade her to rent the house (his 
property), use the money it would bring as 
her own, and live with one of her three chil- 
dren. His house, he declares, is at her ser- 



8o BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

vice, but feels that he must candidly tell her 
that it is a kind of tavern for distinguished 
travelers, and that she could hardly stand 
the fatigue of dressing to meet company, or 
find there the retirement needed at her ad- 
vanced age. it is sad to think that even the 
press sensationalist could invent such a cal- 
umny on Washington and his mother as is 
found in this totally baseless paragraph. It 
is characteristic of neither. Washington was 
through life a devoted son, and she a fond 
mother. Her three known letters are badly 
written and ill spelled. Her mother and the 
English Johnson family, among whom she 
was brought up, were probably illiterate. 
But Mary Ball was a strong and striking char- 
acter, was looked upon with respect and af- 
fection by her relatives and neighbors, and 
brought up her large family to be influential 
and prosperous citizens, to say nothing of her 
illustrious son, who often acknowledged his 
debt to her. 

Mary Washington's correspondence with 
her half-brother, Joseph Ball, a lawyer in Lon- 
don, shows his confidence in her intelligence 
and judgment. Her notes reveal pleasant 
relations with the family of Peter Daniel, pre- 
siding justice of Stafford County, who married 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 8 1 

her half-sister's daughter, and with the Ball 
connection on both sides of the Atlantic. In 
one letter to Joseph Ball in London (1759) she 
says, "Thear was no end to my troble while 
George was in the army, butt now he has 
given it up." In an undated letter to her son 
John Augustine Washington (in Bushfield, 
Westmoreland, Virginia), she complains of 
poverty. ''I am a going fast, and it, the 
time, is hard. I am borrowing a little cornn — 
no cornn in the cornn-house. I never lived so 
poore in my life. Was it not for Mr. French 
and your sister Lewis I should be almost 
starved, but I am like an old almanack out of 
date. " This note was no doubt written about 
the year 1781, when in mental decline, her 
children being much oppressed by the public 
service. There is ample proof in General 
Washington's accounts of his constant care 
for his mother. He heard of her complaints, 
and wrote to his brother, John Augustine 
Washington, requesting him to find out 
whether his mother's troubles were real or 
imaginary, authorizing him to spend any 
money to keep his mother comfortable. Her 
love of gardening and independence were 
such that she persisted in remaining on the 
old farm after her children had all founded 



82 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

homes of their own. When in 1771 she 
was at length persuaded to move into Fred- 
ericksburg, to a house and garden belonging 
to her son George, her son Charles and son- 
in-law. Colonel Fielding Lewis, made a valua- 
tion of her property, which amounted to ^2 1 5 
1 15. Sd. The document, which is among the 
Havemeyer manuscripts, shows that there 
were, at the ''Home House," ''43 Hoggs, 
Shoats and Pigs," 16 sheep, 24 head of cattle, 
2 horses; at the ''Quarters" (her dower land 
of 400 acres, some miles down the river), 4 
horses, 6 oxen, 8 cows and calves, 39 hogs. 
On the two farms there were ten slaves. The 
lower farm was bringing her ^30 per annum. 
Her house in Fredericksburg, still a comforta- 
ble residence, has a beautiful flower-garden, 
which stretches back to that of "Kenmore," 
her daughter's residence. In her phaeton 
which, with a bay horse, she bequeathed to 
her daughter, she drove almost daily to the 
farm across the river. A covert near her monu- 
ment is pointed out, where the old lady is 
said to have retired for meditation, but this is 
mythical : it is certain that the unusual piety 
ascribed to her does not tinge any one of 
her notes, — not even that to her son an- 
nouncing that she is "going fast." Colonel 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 8} 

Fielding Lewis was a vestryman, and was 
buried in the vestibule of St. George's Church; 
his grandson Robert Lewis, the Mayor, was a 
leading man in the church, and his daughter 
married the rector. Their piety was repre- 
sented in the original design of Mary Wash- 
ington's monument, which included four an- 
gels kneeling at the corners. However, Mary 
Washington's signature is found in Matthew 
Hale's ''Contemplations," and in Hervey's 
''Meditations," — the latter of which was 
lately purchased by the Mount Vernon As- 
sociation. Her monument was built by the 
generosity of Silas Burroughs of New -York, 
whose bankruptcy caused it to remain un- 
finished. It is to be hoped that it will be fin- 
ished, and that the mistaken counsels of those 
who wish to substitute a new structure for 
the quaint and historical monument will not 
prevail. 

Mary Washington's daughter, Betty, was 
remembered by Mr. Custis as "a majestic 
woman." The school in Fredericksburg was 
for both sexes, and Betty enjoyed its advan- 
tages longer than did her brother George, 
who had to leave in order to earn his living. 
Some of her letters have been preserved, and 
are written in a neat and clear way. They 



84 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

are to her brother George, to whom she was 
devoted, consulting him through life on every 
important matter. The following, though 
not so good an example as some others, is 
given here because it has not appeared, I 
believe, in any publication. 1 am indebted 
for a copy (exact) of it to Captain Henry 
Howell Lewis of Baltimore. 

'' Mount Vernon, Sept. 21, 1779. 
"My Dear Brother, 

''Yours of the 27th of June I received, 
with the enclosed from Mr. Peake, also the 
miniature likeness, for which I am much 
indebted. There was no mention made in 
your letter, or that of Mr. Peake, what the 
drawing amounted to. I will send the money 
by any person he may direct to receive the 
same. 

" Mr. Lewis, Betty, and myself are just from 
the Berkeley Springs, to see my sister Wash- 
ington, on our way home, — and am happy 
to find her so hearty, and looking so well. 
And had you been here it would have com- 
pleted my happiness. 

' ' Oh ! when will that day arrive when we 
will meet again. 1 trust in the Lord it will be 
soon, — 'till when, you have the prayers and 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 85 

kind wishes for your health and happiness of 
your loving and 

" Sincerely affectionate sister, 

*' Betty Lewis. 

''P. S. Mr. Lewis, George and Betty join 
me in love and kind wishes. 

''To General Washington, Philadelphia." 

Betty was, however, a lady of deeds rather 
than words. The fame of her making car- 
tridges in the Revolution, of her general lead- 
ership in the charitable affairs of Fredericks- 
burg, and her excellence as a mother, remain to 
this day. Mrs. Lucas, who recently died at the 
age of ninety-four, told me that in childhood 
she was taught in a school-room located in 
the garden of Kenmore (the Lewis residence, 
though so named afterwards by the Gordon 
family), which she always understood had 
been opened there in the time of Betty Lewis. 

Although there may be some doubt about 
the extreme devoutness attributed by tradition 
to Mary Washington, Mrs. Throckmorton's 
testimony as to the piety of George, after his 
father's death, is unquestionable. The family 
always went to church, and George, to the 
end of life susceptible to eloquence, was 



86 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

under the influence of two eminent clergy- 
men, John Moncure, rector of Overwharton 
parish, and James Marye , rector of St. George's 
parish. By the latter was founded and no 
doubt superintended the school attended by 
George Washington. His early copy-books 
bear witness to his religious sentiment. One 
of them contains a religious poem which may 
have been composed by one of the clergymen 
mentioned, as the spelling is not character- 
istic of the boy in whose careful writing it is 
found. It is headed — 

"ON CHRISTMAS DAY. 

''Assist me, Muse divine! to Sing the Morn, 
On which the Saviour of Mankind was born; 
But oh ! what Numbers to the Theme can rise? 
Unless kind Angels aid me from the Skies ! 
Methinks I see the tunefull Host descend, 
And with officious Joy the Scene attend ! 
Hark, by their Hymns directed on the Road, 
The Gladsome Shepherds find the nascent 

God! 
And view the Infant conscious of his Birth, 
Smiling bespeak Salvation to the Earth ! 

For when th' important /Era first drew near 
In which the great Messiah Should appear ; 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 87 

And to accomplish his redeeming Love 
Beneath our Form should every Woe sustain, 
And by triumphant Suffering fix his Reign, 
Should forlost Man inTorturesyield his Breath 
Dying to save us from eternal Death ! 
Oh mystick union ! — Salutary Grace ! 
Incarnate God our Nature should embrace ! 
That Deity should stoop to our Disguise ! 
That man recover'd should regain the Skies! 
Dejected Adam ! from thy grave ascend, 
And view the Serpent's Deadly Malice end; 
Adoring bless th'Almighty's boundless Grace 
That gave his Son a Ransome for thy Race! 
Oh never let my Soul this Day forget, 
But pay in graitfull praise her annual Debt 
To him, whom 'tis my Trust I shall [iUegible] 
When Time, and Sin, and Death" [illegible] 

The best of the poems found in Washing- 
ton's early copy-books is one which I have 
endeavored to trace to some volume, without 
success. If it is of local authorship, I should 
incline to attribute it to his father. It indi- 
cates just the kind of culture that the elder 
Augustine would receive at Appleby, and has 
a smack of the wholesome freedom of heart 
and mind which belongs to the seventeenth 
century, in which he was born. 



88 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 



(( 



TRUE HAPPINESS. 



''These are the things which once possessed 
Will make a life that's truly blessed: 
A good estate on healthy soil, 
Not got by vice, nor yet by toil ; 
Round a warm fire a pleasant joke, 
With chimney ever free from smoke ; 
A strength entire, a sparkling bowl, 
A quiet wife, a quiet soul, 
A mind as well as body whole ; 
Prudent simplicity, constant friends, 
A diet which no art commends ; 
A merry night without much drinking, 
A happy thought without much thinking ; 
Each night by quiet sleep made short ; 
A will to be but what thou art : 
Possessed of these all else defy. 
And neither wish nor fear to die." 

Captain Augustine Washington, in dividing 
the larger part of his property between his sons 
by the first ''venter," to use his testamentary 
expression, no doubt reflected that his wife 
would bestow her own lands — about 1600 
acres — on her children. But that was a long 
way off. What George needed was an edu- 
cation such as his half-brothers had received. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 89 

and this the indefatigable captain would no 
doubt have secured him had he lived. But 
he left his second family land-poor. He had 
turned too much actual gold into possible iron. 
Then the iron crop was bequeathed to Law- 
rence, who was Eldest Son, Major, prospec- 
tive Burgess, — the great man of the family, — 
who must one day support an establishment 
in Williamsburg as well as Mount Vernon. 

The half-brothers, who had both married 
wealthy wives, were disposed to be generous 
to George. At eleven he was taken to reside 
in the old mansion, ''Wakefield, "where Aus- 
tin had settled with his young wife (Ann Ay- 
lett). There he was sent to Mr. Williams's 
day-school, which may have been in one of 
the old houses still standing in the village 
now known as Oak Grove. At ''Wakefield" 
George had a home more luxurious than that 
of his father, though the number of varied 
wine-bottles found on the site of the house 
near Fredericksburg testified to the good 
living of the captain's household. Austin 
was by far the wealthiest of the Washing- 
tons. Among these Havemeyer manuscripts 
is an appraisement of his property made on 
his decease by order of the Westmoreland 
Court, and dated November 30, 1762. Apart 



90 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

from real estate and from cash, his property 
amounted to the then large sum of ^^4,617. 
There were 77 negroes, an amazing list of cat- 
tle, and 36 horses,— the names and descrip- 
tions of these proving that Austin kept a 
racing stud that must have won him many 
a prize at Fredericksburg and Williamsburg. 
One of his negroes is named "Appleby," and 
among the books that recall that old gram- 
mar-school are Homer, Virgil, and ''sundry 
Latin books." Shakespeare (6 volumes) is 
included, but the library is not proportionate 
in extent to the importance of the rest of the 
establishment. One fiddle is appraised. There 
is costly furniture for the eight bedrooms, 
large quantities of mahogany and walnut for 
other rooms, several grand mirrors, and 
enough millinery and kid gloves (white and 
colored) to show that Mrs. Austin Washing- 
ton must have been a rather dashing figure 
at the races. 

It may be said, in passing, that it was prob- 
ably, at least in part, on account of the 
wealth inherited by Austin's son, William 
Augustine Washington, that the general dis- 
regarded the terms of his half-brother Law- 
rence's will, by which, in case of his (the 
general's) death without issue, the Mount 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 91 

Vernon estate was to pass to Austin or his 
heirs. A law passed during the Revolution 
terminated entails, and the general bequeathed 
Mount Vernon to his own nephew Bushrod. 
At the close of his life the general, being 
somewhat pressed for money, was at various 
times assisted by William Augustine Wash- 
ington, and to him he bequeathed several 
parcels of land, besides the first choice of his 
swords. A great-granddaughter of Austin, 
with whom George Washington found a home 
at his father's death, and her husband, John E. 
Wilson, Esq., make Wakefield still the seat of 
a refinement and hospitality which have sur- 
vived all its vicissitudes. 

The Washingtons were precocious lovers, 
and George was no exception. There are 
many traditionary claimants to the honor of 
having been vainly wooed by the great man 
in his youth. I will not name these fair and 
fabulous sweethearts, but must affirm that 
the three principal ones are historically im- 
possible : one he certainly never saw until 
she was married; another he tells a corre- 
spondent he might have been pleased with 
had he not been already in love ; a third was 
but a child when he declared his passion for 
the ''Lowland Beauty." George no doubt 



92 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

had his boyish fancies, and one may have 
been the subject of an acrostic in his journal, 
certainly his own composition : 

'' From your bright sparkling Eyes, I was un- 
done ; 
Rays, you have ; more transparent than the 

Sun, 
Amidst its glory in the rising Day, 
None can you equal in your bright array ; 
Constant in your calm and unspotted Mind ; 
Equal to all, but will to none Prove kind, 
So knowing, seldom one so Young you'll 

Find. 
Ah ! woe 's me, that I should Love and 

conceal, 
Long have I wish'd, but never dare reveal. 
Even though severely Love's Pains I feel : 
Xerxes that great, was't free from Cupid's 

Dart, 
And all the greatest Heroes, felt the smart." 

The concluding lines are missing. No 
doubt the acrostic was on ' ' Frances Alexan- 
der," — perhaps a girl of that name who be- 
longed to the family after which Alexandria 
was named. They were descendants of the 
first Earl of Stirling. Their land extended to 
Hunting Creek, and it is likely that George 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 93 

and Betty played in childhood with this 
Frances, daughter of Captain Philip Alexan- 
der, though she was two years older than 
he who was undone by her bright sparkling 
eyes, — unless, indeed, we are to suppose the 
writer at fifteen to be placing his pen at an- 
other's service. Or it may have been written 
in answer to some playful challenge of the 
fair Fanny. There was nothing playful, how- 
ever, about George's real love-affair, — his 
passion for the ''Lowland Beauty," as he calls 
her in one of his letters concerning her, of 
which there are three existing as drafts p^ 
(undated) in his journal. The "Lowland 
Beauty " has been satisfactorily identified by 
the discovery, by General Fitzhugh Lee, who 
told me that it was genuine, of a letter from 
Washington to William Fauntleroy, Sr., May 
20, 1752, inclosing a letter to "Miss Betsy," 
and declaring his purpose to wait on her, "in 
hopes of a revocation of the former cruel sen- 
tence, and see if 1 cannot obtain an alteration 
in my favor." Betsy Fauntleroy was a verit- 
able " Lowland Beauty," residing at Naylor's 
Hold on the Rappahannock, about fifteen 
miles from "Wakefield." 

Mr. Robert T. Knox, of Fredericksburg, has 
made out for me the pedigree of the Fauntle- 
roys. The first of the name in Virginia was 



94 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

the famous Moore Fauntleroy, a great-great- 
grandson of Edward Lord Stourton. He came 
over in 1643, and the grand Fauntleroy man- 
sion on the Rappahannock may have been 
built by him. The ''William Fauntleroy, 
Sr./' of Washington's letter was grandson of 
Moore ; he married Apphia Bushrod, and his 
son William married his cousin Elizabeth 
Fauntleroy. These had an only daughter, 
Elizabeth, — the Miss Betsy of Washington's 
letter. She was born June 26, 1736. As the 
letter of George Washington was written just 
after his return from the Barbadoes (March 4, 
1752), and speaks of not having been able to 
visit the Fauntleroys on account of illness, 
his ''cruel sentence" must have been re- 
ceived from Miss Betsy before his voyage, 
September 28, 1751. He was then under 
twenty, and the young lady under sixteen. 
She afterward married an Adams, and be- 
came the mother of the Hon. Thomas Adams. 
On a recent tour down the Rappahannock 
1 found to my dismay that the ancient man- 
sion of the Fauntleroys had been pulled down 
by its owner in 1891. Near the site of that 
superb mansion, whose beautiful park fringed 
the river with stately trees and flowers, stands 
now a frame house, plebeian enough to make 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 95 

the great cavalier Moore Fauntleroy turn over 
in his grave. What twilight walks and soft 
whispers went on beneath the grove of which 
but two or three trees remain ! What songs 
on the moonlit waters ! What revels in the 
great halls ! There were aboriginal lords of 
the land there before Moore Fauntleroy led 
in the work of their extermination ; now his 
proud race and their edifices have also be- 
come extinct. The young Washington who 
vainly pleaded for the hand of the Lowland 
Beauty presently unsheathed his sword, and 
now the democratic grass waves alike over 
the wigwam of the Indian and the palace of 
the Fauntleroys. 

The river glides on, as it glided past the 
perished dreamland of young George Wash- 
ington. It expands into a seaward highway 
on which the broken-hearted lover would 
fain travel ; his spirit could find more repose 
amid the billows than in being tossed from 
one home to another as ''a poor relation." 
But above the river moves invisibly the 
mightier current of events. One may specu- 
late what might have been the course of his- 
tory had George Washington then married 
the heiress, and become the master of Faun- 
tleroy House. Was Betsy, even in her child- 



96 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

hood, to leave her great park and mansion, 
and her kinsmen, educated in universities, to 
share the lot of a hollovz-chested youth 
whose brother was sinking with consump- 
tion, who had not means to remain even in 
Fredericksburg school, and whose land did 
not yield enough corn to cover the ribs of his 
horse ? The letter of George Washington, 
printed in facsimile in this book, is sufficient- 
ly pathetic. His half-brother, Lawrence, to 
whom it is written, is a Burgess at Williams- 
burg ; William Fairfax also ; so there is no 
home for him at Mount Vernon or Belvoir. 
At Williamsburg, too, the fortunate young 
-gentry of the colony are studying classics in 
William and Mary College, and acquiring in 
its fine social circle such polish as that which 
will enable young Adams to win the heiress 
of Fauntleroy. But poor George, at seven- 
teen, must stay on the farm for lack of corn 
enough to support his horse, and be burdened 
with the widow's worries about her negro 
quarters. The five years' use of the farm at 
Bridge Creek left her by her husband has 
come to an end,— probably her main re- 
source. How far away now appear these 
troubles under the later splendor^of this man's 
career 1 Lately I saw on the edge of the Rap- 



L 










^Acutr irA'^ (^tCC&^ ^id"- ^"^ ttT^ !«i^ Sn/tO «<^/*/&_^i.kl (^"Tx^ ' '^i- -^l ■'Sfvitu^ 



^> 



'3 




^a/^f^at\rre^cj0^a»^hi/?^^vi^^ 



7- 



»4^ 



Ufi^A^ 



SUPERSCRIPTION OF LETTER, DATED MAY 5, 1 749, FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON 
TO MAJOR LAWRENCE WASHINGTON AT WILLIAMSBURGH, VA. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 97 

pahannock the ruin of that same mill, to 
which the letter alludes, and on the heights 
near it uninhabited cabins that may be the 
very same that stood on the widow's lower 
farm, threatened by Taliaferro's proposed 
ferry. These poor things once meant bread 
or the want of it to the Widow Washington 
and her five children. They also meant 
humiliation and disappointment to the lover 
of the Lowland Beauty. He will roam among 
the Indians, and survey my lord's lands, and 
write of ''her that's pityless" verses that 
amuse the dry historian : 

*' lie sleep amongst my most inveterate Foes, 
And with gladness never wish to wake. 

In deluding sleepings let my eyelids close, 
That in an enraptured dream I may 

In a soft lulling sleep and gentle repose 
Possess those joys denied by day." 





V 



After Cartagena 



HE Journal of the Virginia Coun- 
cil, August 6, 1740, records the 
issue of orders to officers in the 
Cartagena expedition : "Cap- 
tains, Lawrence Washington, 
Charles Walker, Richard Bush- 

Mercer ; Lieutenants, Francis Moss, 

Bellamy, Lewis Browne; Ensigns, Wil- 
liam Fitzhugh, Hugh Rose, Young, 

Pilott. " (Hay den's ' ' Va. Genealogies, " p . 494 
In the English House of Commons, Admi- 
ral Vernon, who had won some glory in the 

sea-fight against Spain in 1702, boasted that 

98 




BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 99 

Porto Bello could be taken with six ships. 
England took him at his word, and he made 
it good. Porto Bello was taken with six 
men-of-war in November, 1739. But it proved 
a perilous victory. On March 4, 1741, Admi- 
ral Vernon appeared before Cartagena, then 
in the Viceroyalty of New Granada, with 29 
ships of the line, 80 smaller vessels, 15,000 
sailors, 12,000 land troops, and met with an 
awful repulse, most of the army being slain, 
and large numbers scattered to perish on isl- 
ands of sickness. Among the forces was the 
Virginia regiment of which Sir William Gooch 
was chief and Lawrence Washington next in 
command. Sir William returned soon after 
the disaster, broken in health, and seems to 
have left the Virginians in Jamaica under com- 
mand of Lawrence Washington. The latter 
returned to Virginia near the close of 1742. 

This brief preface will enable the reader to 
understand better the subjoined letters to 
Lawrence Washington from his friends and 
comrades in England. Joseph Deane, writer 
of the first and of another, was clearly a trusty 
agent in Whitehaven of the Washingtons. 
His tone is that of intimacy with both Law- 
rence and his father. Canon Mathews, of 
Appleby, England, where Augustine (men- 



100 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

tioned in the following letter) was at school, 
informs me that the Deane family belonged 
to that place (1696). It is near Whitehaven. 
There is no address on the letter, which was 
probably inclosed : 

''Dear Sir: 

''It was a very great satisfaction and plea- 
sure to me and to all your friends in having 
the favour of yours from the Harbour of Car- 
thagena ye 3 1 March last, and tho wee have 
not had that favour repeated, and great mis- 
fortunes and mortallity hath attended you, yet 
I hope to God you are still in being, and that 
he hath and will protect you at all times ; this 
is the sincere prayer of your affectionate 
Friend. 

"Wee have had dismall accounts; how to 
judge is very uncertain ; and upon my word 
I am under the greatest uneasiness for your 
p'servacion, so that I beg you will let me 
hear from you. I will not enlarge much, 
being afraid I am writing to one, not of this 
world, so that I know not whose hands this 
may fall into. I hear Conii Gouge hath 
wrote to England and accuses your Virgin- 
ians of Cowardice, and that they are all or 
most of them back. I hope its not true ; but 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK lOI 

be as it will I beg you will keep up your 
spirits. Your Brother and all Friends is well 
and at your service ; and upon my word he 
is grown a pretty young fellow. Pray also 
give me directions to proseed. As to state 
affairs 1 am no judge, but your Fine Admirall 
hath got great aplause tho' he cu'd not take 
the Town. And some is blamed for storm- 
ing the ffort (much) without first a breach. 

''All friends hear is well except your once 
much admired Mrs. Milham who is just a 
heap of coruption (so uncertain is this world), 
and must be dead ea'r this comes to hand. 
All hear join's in our kind love to you, and 
I am 

''Dear Sir, 
"Your most affect. Humble serv't 

"Jos. Deane. 

"WT Haven, July 24, 1741. 

"Its uncertain this cuming to your hand 
yet wou'd neglect no opportunity to show 
my regards for you." 

It will be seen by the above that Admiral 
Vernon's popularity was too great to fall by 
his failure. In fact, he resumed his place in 



102 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

Parliament. However, in 1745 he quarreled 
with the Admiralty, and his name was struck 
off the naval list. He is now mainly remem- 
bered as the hero of a failure, whose name 
was given to the mansion of Washington. 

The next letter is official, and bears the 
superscription: ''To Captain Lau. Washing- 
ton of Col. Gooch's Regimt of Foot. Pr. Cap- 
tain Fitzhugh. " (This was William Fitzhugh, 
of Westmoreland, Virginia.) It seems to have 
\ reached Virginia before Lawrence, and, strange 
\ to say, was delivered to William Fairfax,— 
"^ being marked : ' ' Reed Sept. 23, W. Fx. " Pos- 
sibly, however, it was received at Williams- 
burg, William Fairfax being in the Council, 
and confided to him as the particular friend 
of Lawrence's father, then residing at Freder- 
icksburg. 

"Sir, 

"This comes with your Account of Clear- 
inge from the date of your Commission to 24 
December 1740 Balance whereof is Eighteen 
Pounds five shillings, and yi, and waits your 
order. 

"It was but this day that I could get that 
money from the Pay Office, and no more 
Clearings can be received till May or June 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 10} 

next at soonest for want of Muster Rolls: 
Such as have been sent home can be of no 
use, the Docket part which governs the 
Credit of the Muster Roll being Cancelled by 
Endorsements ; so We must get these Rolls 
explained by Warrants from the King, or put 
into some other Way for Payment. 

"Your Regiment is not particular herein all 
the others being in the same Way ; so soon 
as 1 can obtain the Proper Credits I shall write, 
before which I pray the favour that the Gen- 
tlemen will not draw on me; for it will be 
great Uneasiness to me to send back their 
Bills. 

''This comes to the Northern Provinces 
where I reckon You will come upon the Re- 
duction of the Regiment and 1 am present 
Busy for solliciting for the half Pay. 

"I am Sir, Your most obedient 
''humble servant, 

"Alexr Wilson. 

"Queen Street Westmr : 
"6 Novemr 1742." 

The seal qn the above letter is armorial : 
two chevrons between three mullets, the 
crest being a shell. 



104 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

The next letter is from the general of the 
land forces in the Cartagena expedition. 

''Sr, 

'M am favour'd with yours of Jan: 17th, 
which gives me a great deal of pleasure, as it 
confirms the account of your safe arrivall in 
Virginia, with the soldiers committed to your 
charge, and of their being without any diffi- 
culty dispers'd to their respective colonys. 

"\ have I do assure you, labour'd to the 
utmost of my power to serve the reduc'd 
officers of your Corps, and 1 flatter myself 
that there will be a provision made for the 
whole, soon after the Parliament rises; but 
am still of the same opinion that your coming 
over hither will answer no end, but the occa- 
sioning you unnecessary trouble and expence, 
and that your interest will not in any wise 
suffer by your absence. 

''I am, Sr your very faithful! 
''and humble servant, 

*'Thos. Wentworth. 

''London, Ap: the 17th, 1743. 

"Capt Washington." 

Captain Lawrence Washington returned 
from the unfortunate expedition to find a 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 105 

happy outlook at home. The house his fa- 
ther had been building for him in Fairfax — 
the county was just formed, 1742 — was 
nearly completed. It is probable that he 
stayed with the Fairfaxes at Belvoir ; at any 
rate, he persuaded Ann Fairfax to become mis- 
tress of the new mansion, which he promptly 
named Mount Vernon. His father, it will be 
remembered, died on April 12, 1743, and it is 
said that the marriage was on that account 
postponed until July 19. It is rather remark- 
able, however, that in writing to his friends 
in England Major Washington seems to have 
omitted mention of his father's death. This 
may be gathered from the following congrat- 
ulatory letters. 

''Dear Sir, 

''Your's of the 18 July last gives me infinite 
pleasure one two accts. First that you have 
escaped many daingers and returned in peace, 
and 2dly that you are happ'ly fixed to a Young 
Lady in Whome I sincerely wish you all the 
cumford and happeness this life can aford. 
My Wife joins with me in the same good 
wishess and desires you will make our com- 
plimts in a politer way then my Pen is masr 
of to Your Lady. 



I06 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

''I writ to you by the Howard since wch 
wee have had no News however I have sent 
you and yr Brother all the journals I cu'd pick 
up. You know what this Country afords. if 
I can assist my freind in anything I beg You 
will let me know. I shall write to you by 
other ships from time to time and I hope you 
will do the same to me. 
"I am Dear Sir your very Affect 
''Humi Servt, 

''Jos: Deane. 
''Wt Haven, Nov. loth, 1743. 

"?. S. You must excuse Bror Robinson's 
not writting I told him I woud writ when the 
first Ships was ready to sail but wee have a 
Surveyr in the [sic] that prevents me." 

The next letter is from Lawrence Washing- 
ton's teacher in England, who addresses him 
as ''Major,"— his title after becoming Adju- 
tant-General of one of the four military dis- 
tricts of Virginia, to which place his brother 
George succeeded (;^i5o per annum). 

"Appleby, Nov^. 13. 1743. 
"You tell me. Dear Major Washington, on 
the 19th of July, that you had then taken your 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 107 

residence upon Mount Vernon, and give me 
to understand that in a few hours after writ- 
ing you might probably be upon your Mons 
Veneris. A happy situation, believe me, I 
think you to be in. If I had not thought so, 
I should not have come there myself; for be 
it known to you I was married also on ye 
1 2th of May, ye day sacred and solemn to all 
schoolmasters of Appleby, but particularly so 
to me, before I made it my wedding day ; be- 
ing not only ye day upon which ye school 
was founded (as you may yet remember, if 
you have not forgot Nansey Huetson) but ye 
day likewise on which my Presentation to the 
School bore date just 20 years before. And 
as it had prov'd a happy day to me, produc- 
tive of much profit and pleasure too for 20 
years together, I ventured to make it an y^ra 
from which to date so considerable a Revolu- 
tion in my Life ; and I bless God for it ; thus 
far I find my satisfaction improved, and have 
no apprehension of any abatement but hope 
and prospects of farther improvement still. 

''But why all this upon my self, when I am 
writing a Letter of Ogratulation to my friend ? 
To let my friend know that my Ogratulation 
must be ye more sincere, because I feel ye joy 
that 1 give him upon ye occasion. And to con- 



I08 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

elude with as hearty and as good a Wish as I 
can make. I wish you, my Dear, and your 
Wife as happy as I and mine are. 

''The Woman I married is ye daughter of 
Mr. Hartley of Kirby-steven who had a Bror. 
Hugh at school when you was here, I be- 
lieve ; and another whose name was Alderson 
when Austin was here. She 's just lo years 
younger than I (pretty much as 'tis with 
your's). I wanted about 1 5 weeks of 42 upon 
my wedding day. I hope your Father and 
his family are all well. I beg my best respects 
to him and Honest Austin, and am with sin- 
cere regard for you and your good Lady 
''Dear Lawrence, 
"your most Affectionate Friend 
"and very Humble Servant 
Ri: Yates. 

"This comes down to Honest Joe Deane to 
whom I leave ye direction of it." 

Canon Mathews writes me from Appleby 
Vicarage : 

"Richard Yates was a well known master 
of Appleby Grammar School — then one of the 
best known schools in the North of England, 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 109 

in the first part of last century. He was a 
man of literary tastes and an author. In our 
Registers, which are alas very imperfect, I 
find, 'Jane dr. of Mr. Ri. Yates baptized Mar. 
5, 1745.' Nancy Huetson, mentioned in Mr. 
Yates' letter, was for many years a Matron at 
Appleby Grammar School, and left all her 
savings to found an annual Treat for the boys 
on a certain date each year — probably the 
12th May alluded to by Mr. Yates. This was 
held at an inn in Appleby until it was found 
to lead to abuse and was suppressed." 

There is another letter of ''honest Joe 
Deane," as Yates calls him. 

"Dear Capt Washington, 

"Yours at all times (if I may own it) gives 
me great pleasure, so that I hope you will 
not Neglect renewing that pleasure when 
every opportunity offers. 

"I wonder you shud not hear from me. 
1 seldom miss embrasing all offers and will 
continue so long as 1 find my Letters are not 
troublesome. My Bro^ Robinson hath I fancy 
received the value of your Bill. I have heard 
nothing to the Contrary. Poor Wilkin is 
dead. Dr. Skelbeck is Mayor, and Mr. Yates 



no BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

is marred ; that 's all the Alterations I know 
there. The warr was expected to be hott in 
Flanders but its quite otherwise. I am afraid 
its a trade now. Wee have a company of 
Blackney's Regement in this Town and the 
captain's Name is Gordon. 1 find he went 
out upon the same footing you did and is 
now in full pay, so that if you was to cume 
over you woud be the same. He tells me he 
knows you very well and seems to blame 
you in not cuming over (but this is not to 
Advise you for I know nothing about it.) He 
further tells me he had a dispute about the 
Seniority but you got it. 

"This warr 1 am afraid will distress the 
Planters but its only living within due bounds 
at first (this advise may be given but not so 
easily taken.) I cud not learn from Mrs. 
Smith the reason of her cuming away. 

''{ have sent you the last papers and if I 
can serve you in any thing hear, pray let me 
know. I had the worst luck with the Wal- 
/ nutt-f^oil] that ever Fellow had, wee lost but 
two ships and it was both them that had 
it in. 

''Wee have little or no news hear, but I 
hope to God the King of Prussia will never get 
out of Boheamia he had the Bull© [? bullion] 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK III 

and hath still if he woud be honest, but I hope 
no body will trust him now. 

"My Wife joins in our very kind love to 
you and your Lady, and I am with due re- 
gard 

''Dear Sir, your most Obedt 
"and most Humie Servt. 

"Jos. Deane. 
"Wt Haven, Nov. 6, 1744." 

The following, "To Capt. Washington," is 
written on paper with water-mark "Culloden. 
Dettingen"; also a crest seal — a sea-horse 
and coronet. 

"Montrose, Nov. 13th, 1749. 
"Dear Captain, 

"You'l excuse my not giving you your 
proper title, as I dare say you are long before 
this become a Colonel, but you ha' not been 
so kind as to inform me thereof, tho I have 
wrote sev'al times to you since I had the plea- 
sure of hearing from you. Most of our Corps 
yt are living are now in the Army, very few by 
the reduction on half pay. I am just become 
Eldest Captain. None of us yet are ffield Of- 
ficers but Bollocks Merser, who has beat us 

all with his Hams of Bacon. Poor Lowry is 

15 



112 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

lately dead in Ireland and Milburn dyed in 
EdinS this Spring.— You wou'd find by the 
papers yt we did not reep many Laurells ye last 
War in fflanders, no more than in the West 
Indies. I was in the two Battles of Rasso and 
La Poll, at the latter of which I reed a wound 
in my Ancle yt had like to have made me an 
Invalid for life, which was likewise dispaired 
off, but by the help of a good Heart and good 
Constitution 1 have got ye better of it and can 
still walk tolerably well, but to my great mor- 
tification I have not yet dared to venture upon 
a Country Dance. You'l say perhaps ye matter 
is not very great, as my dancing days ought 
to be pretty well over, but hold a blow there 
I am as young as ever I was tho' not yet mar- 
ried but 1 threaten ye Scotch Lasses very hard. 
Bob Poins is lately dead, did 1 know where she 
was 1 would have a stroke at my old flame 
his Widdow, if she durst venter again after 
having had so bad a Husband but they will 
venter and a man might venter too was he 
sure of having as good luck as you have had, 
and you can't be angry at me, if I am in love 
with your Lady, because you yr self are the 
cause of it. Pray my Complyments to Fitzhue 
who 1 hear has beat up the Qiiarters of a Wid- 
dow, to whom I wish all Happiness. 1 have 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 11} 

been this summer with a Detachmt of our 
Regiment at Work upon the Roads in ye High- 
lands, where wee had ye weather much colder 
than 'tis with you in Winter, and so wet yt we 
had but 7 fine days in 3 months. I have not 
been here a week 'tis a most beautiful situa- 
tion and ye Adjacent Country pleasant enough, 
so that I seem to be transported out of Pur- 
gatory into Paradise. I find your Governor 
[Gooch] is coming over and Colo Legh [Lee] 
is to be president [of the Ohio Company] to 
whom you'l please to make my Complyments 
and to all my old Acquaintance. 1 coud spend 
a Twelve Month amongst you with a great 
deal of pleasure ; but 'tis not very likely that 
that will ever happen. We have Work cut out 
for us in this Kingdom for 5 or 6 years. Tho' 
we you know have no certain abiding place, 
yet wherever I am 1 shall always be 

"DSr, 
''Your assured friend and 
''Very hble servt 

"T. Stafford. 

"If you have not quite forgot your old ac- 
quaintance let me hear from you by ye first 
opportunity, and direct for me in Lieut Gen- 
eral Pulteney's Regiment in Scotland." 




VI 



The yirginians 




ROM the Chesapeake (''Mother 
of Waters") extend, like fin- 
gers from a mighty palm, Vir- 
ginia's tidal rivers, — Potomack, 
Rappahannock, York, Matta- 
poni, James. These and their 
confluents gathered up the produce of the 
land. On each of the smaller streams was 
a fleet of flat-bottomed scows which could 
meet the wheeled barges of the interior and 
convey their loads to the sea-vessels at their 
mouths. The ships were wafted by the 
breath of prayer. Here is one of the many 



BARONS OF THE POTOMACK U<y 

bills of lading before me, — the words not of 
the printed form given in italics : 

"Shipped by the Grace of God, in good 
order and well conditioned, by tbe Honble 
John Carter, Esq. on the proper Accot and 
risque of the Estate of RoU Carter ofNomony 
in and upon the good Ship Charles, whereof 
is Master under God for this present Voyage 
Thomas Teage, and now riding at anchor in 
the [Potomack], and by God's Grace bound 
for London, [that is] to say Thirty-two Hhds. 
of Tobacco, being marked and numbered as 
in the Margent, and are to be delivered in 
the like good order and well conditioned at 
the aforesaid Port oi London (the danger of 
the Seas only excepted) unto Mr. Edward 
Athawes or to bis Assigns, he or they pay- 
ing Fraight for the said Goods at the Rate 
of Eight pounds Sterling p. tunn with Pri- 
mage and Avarage accustomed. In Witness 
whereof the Master or Purser of the said 
Ship have affirmed to 2 Bills of Lading all 
of this tenor and date; the one of which 
2 Bills being accomplished, the other / to 
stand void ; and so God send the good Ship 
to her desired Port in safety. Amen. Da- 
ted in Virginia, Aug. 9th. 1738. — Thomas 



Il6 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Teagey Margin: ''Impost and Cocket not 
paid.'' 

The young people, as they saw the huge 
hogsheads rolled on the wharf and lifted into 
the ship, added many prayers to that of the 
bill of lading for the good ship's safe voyage. 
For the said consignee Athawes was to youth- 
ful Virginians hardly less august a personage 
than Majesty himself. That mercantile magi- 
cian it was who waved his wand over these 
grimy hogsheads from Virginia, and returned 
them as ribbons, silks, necklaces, or what- 
ever might be desired. In two or three 
places— Aquia, Fredericksburg, Urbanna— 
there grew up "stores," which yielded as 
many varieties of things as India's fabulous 
Wish Tree, and these were much frequented ; 
but among the gentry there was always eclat 
about the costume or article imported directly 
from London. Everything must be labeled 
''English," insomuch that fanciers used to 
sell the songsters unknown to England, if 
they sang particularly well, as ''English 
mocking birds. " A survival from this period 
is found in the local superstitions surround- 
ing colonial churches, and the earlier man- 
sions, that they are built of bricks made in 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 1 17 

England. Many years ago Dr. Philip Slaugh- 
ter offered a considerable reward for any evi- 
dence that bricks were imported for such 
edifices, but, as he told me, none was forth- 
coming. William Randolph, at Turkey Island 
in James River, "King Carter," at Corotoman 
on the Rappahannock, and Colonel Henry 
Willis, at Fredericksburg, certainly had large 
brick-kilns, and there is no reason to doubt 
that this was one of the earliest industries of 
Virginia. The oldest church standing in Vir- 
ginia is that at Smithfield, built in 1632. The 
bricks of the foundation of a neighboring 
farm-house, "White Marsh," of like anti- 
quity, occasionally show on them the foot- 
prints of fowls and dogs, made while they 
were soft, and showing that they were made 
on the farm. 

It was not for brick-laden ships that young 
eyes were strained down the great rivers, but 
for the loads of pretty things that were pres- 
ently distributed up the creeks and roads to 
be displayed in many a mansion. The in- 
voices of millinery and jewelry were large. 
The ladies and gentlemen were more particu- 
lar about attire than the Londoners. In that 
swarming population one may pass unob- 
served, but in the sparse colony every costume 



Il8 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

counts. Even the gaily dressed beau, who 
survived in the ridiculed ''dandy" of demo- 
cratic times, was a useful decoration of colo- 
nial society. The old Virginia gentleman's 
finery was taken from him bit by bit: first 
his sword, which used to be left in a sword- 
rack at the church door when he went in to 
kneel before the Prince of Peace ; then his 
wig; next his knee-breeches, buckles, and 
silken hose. But there are elderly Virginians 
who in youth wore huge shoe-buckles, and 
remember their grandfathers in daily dress- 
coats with brass buttons, shirt-ruffles, snowy 
cravats flowing through golden rings, and 
even an occasional queue lingering from the 
lost wig. As for grandma's snowy ruby- 
clasped turban, it may even yet be seen in 
some counties. There was always company. 
Even after the Revolution Washington de- 
scribed his house. Mount Vernon, as "a 
well-resorted tavern, " and said that for twenty 
years his family never once dined alone. 
But in colonial times, when there were few 
taverns, every mansion was a hotel. English 
and colonial officers, royal commissioners, 
agents, travelers, were always at hand, and 
perhaps seeking some fair Virginian's hand. 
The families had a custom of ''spending the 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 119 

day" with one another. After due prear- 
rangement all the members of a household, 
young and old, start off to travel five, ten, 
fifteen miles to visit some "neighbor," arriv- 
ing in the forenoon. The elder folks play 
whist for moderate stakes, the marriageable 
youth play graces, the boys chermony, or 
bandy, or perhaps join the girls at tag, blind- 
man's buff, and other games on the lawn. 
They all dine magnificently at two, and the 
guests journey home after early tea. Chris- 
tenings and weddings, of course, give rise 
to great family gatherings. And there are 
famous crabbing parties on the lower and 
deeper parts of the rivers. In the early morn- 
ing they sail out on a vessel large enough for 
a dance. Each lady is provided with a fish- 
ing-line made of hickory-bark, at the end a 
bit of fat meat around which the crabs gather 
like green petals ; the beau beside her lowers 
his hand-net, and woe is him if he is too 
abrupt and does not lift the crustacean flower 
on deck. They are emptied into the huge 
boiling-pot, where they blithely swim about 
till red. Compassion is soothed with the 
superstition that the crabs like it. There is 
much fox-hunting, some deer-shooting, and 

more sport with ducks and wild turkeys. 
16 



120 BARONS OF Till- POTOMACK 

Tlu^ Jiuk-sluH>tci somotiiiios lies hid in his 
hoat .uul dritts amoiiii tlio ducks, his i^iui 
throiii^h .1 poit-h(>k\ The tiirko\' hiiiitsinaii 
iMiiios .1 \\histk\ w'huh iiiiist ho iiiado troin 
a tuikoN bpiic.with whk'h ho can imilato tho 
woic Pt a tiiikcN . The iUnk hcing lliislied by 
a dog, w huh IS then caniod to a distance, 
tho spc>itsnian sits in ambush and with his 
tuiko\-bono dohidos tho birds, which aro try- 
ini; to L!:et tc\uothoi ai^ain. So tho okl sin o( 
soothiuii" a kid in its niothor's milk wont on. 
The colcMiial hidios woro ni^t huntrossos. but 
they genorallN' gathered at a "moot, "and tho 
huntin^-da\' usuallx cK^sod with a dance. 
I'Noii chiiich-^omg was a kind o(' picnic. 
The laniilios. gathered trom uian\- miles 
round, can led hampers, and between the 
morning and attornoon services a communal 
toast was laid in tho gro\o. \oung ladies 
being the waiters. Such being the scene, it 
is not wonderful that in ccnmtrx' parishes so 
tew presentments aro lound tor non-attend- 
ance at cliiiuli. Thoro woro also expeditions 
to the couit house, which was cMton crowded 
b\ ladies listening to the tamous lawNors. 
with whom tho\' presonth" danced at the 
invariable ball. Then there were races, the 
most important being at Williamsburg and 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 121 

Fredericksburg. Those of Fredericksburg oc- 
curred during its great fairs, — spring and 
autumn, — when there were masquerades, 
river-festivals, and all manner of gaieties. 
The town became a bazaar of beauty. Many 
marriages of the Rappahannock region were 
arranged at the Fredericksburg Fair. 

With all these gaieties, the colonial dame 
in Virginia had to ''come out" pretty early: 
it was generally when of the age at which 
Shakespeare's Juliet married — fourteen. There 
were not enough ladies to go round, so to say, 
without levying on the school-room. My 
reader may be interested in the following list 
of articles, representing part of the outfit of 
one of these little ladies for perhaps her first 
season in society. It is copied from the origi- 
nal invoice, in my possession, of purchases 
forwarded from London on an order of Col- 
onel John Lewis for his wards, and received 
at Corotoman, June 30, 1739: 

''For EIi;(abetb Carter, 14 years old. A 
Cap, Ruffles, and tucker, the lace 55. per yard ; 

1 pair white Stays ; 8 pair white kid gloves ; 

2 pair coloured ditto ; 2 pair worsted Hose ; 3 
pair thread ditto ; i pair silk shoes laced ; i 
pair morocco ditto ; 4 pair plain Spanish dit- 



122 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

to ; 2 pair calf ditto ; i mask ; i Fan ; i Neck- 
lace ; 1 Girdle and Buckle ; i peice foshionable 
Calico; 4 yards Ribbon for knots; 1 Hoop 
Coat ; I Hatt ; 1 yard and half of Cambrick ; 
a Mantua and Coat of Slite lutestring." 

1 add, also, the provision in the same order 
for "Master Carter." 

''For Robert Carter, 12 fears old. One 
suit of winter cloaths ; 6 pair Shoes and 2 pr. 
Pumps ; 4 pair worked Hose ; 4 pair Thread 
ditto; 2 Hatts; 2 pair colourd Gloves and 
2 pair white ; 1 5 Ells Holland 6s.; 15 yards 
brown Holland ; i pair Shoe Buckles ; i pr. 
blew and white Kentino- Handkfs." 



'& 



One now and then meets with items in old 
letters suggesting a probability that these Vir- 
ginia ladies, who put on their "war-paint" so 
early, were not expected to lay it aside alto- 
gether even after marriage. Custom must 
not ''stale her infinite variety" who, without 
daughters to help, must entertain many fine 
gentlemen tar away in the depth of some 
lonely estate. The time must not be allowed 
to drag for want of a little tlirtation. The 
pretty hostess must gallop with her guest 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 12} 

about the estate, she must challenge him at 
graces or archery, and her evening costume 
must be charming. It must be added, how- 
ever, that there never w^as a society freer from 
marital scandals than that of colonial Virginia. 
Although duels about sweethearts were not 
infrequent, 1 do not remember to have heard 
or read of any about wives. Whether this is 
to be ascribed to the virtue or the freedom 
and complaisance of the time it is not easy to 
determine. However this may be, there is no 
doubt that a survival of the beautifullest went 
on in the colony. Marriages of convenience 
were comparatively few; the beauty, how- 
ever impecunious, however poor her parental 
cottage, was sure to have her train of admir- 
ers. And everybody married. The men mar- 
ried again and again. General Washington's 
brother Samuel married five times, and was 
under fifty when he died. To the planter on 
his vast estate life was not worth living with- 
out a wife. A Swiss traveler, M. Droz, who 
passed some time in the Northern Neck before 
the Revolution, wrote a book {Recit Fidele de 
Mes Aventures) in which he describes the 
ladies as "bounteous in size and manners." 
''Most of the women are quite pretty, and 
are insinuating in their manners, if they find 



124 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

you SO. When you ask them if they would 
like to have husbands, they reply with a good 
grace that it is just what they desire." '' It is 
not rare to see young girls of fifteen marry an 
old man." 

It must be credited to colonial society in 
old Virginia that the gentlemen and ladies 
were not much separated in their amusements 
or occupations. The country was rather too 
rough for the ladies to join in the fox-hunt, 
and we may feel pretty certain that they did 
not attend the cock-fight. This miserable 
amusement was highly respectable — as much 
so as the bull-fight in Spain. It may be men- 
tioned, by the way, that in the old Academy 
at Appleby, England, where the Washingtons 
were educated, there was a regulation that a 
''cock-penny" should be paid by each boy 
on Easter Tuesday to the master, to provide 
them with a cock-fight. We need not won- 
der that George Washington, whose father 
and brothers were there educated, records 
(1752) in his journal, now time-worn: ''A 
Great Main of . . . cks fought in Yorktown 
. . tween Glouster and York for 5 pistoles each 
battle and 100 ye odd I left it with Colo Lewis 
before it was decided. " The progress of these 
pre-revolutionary battles at Yorktown, and the 
final surrender, remain unknown to history. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 125 

The chief lady on a plantation held a posi- 
tion of high responsibility, and, by the number 
of eminent immigrants who remarried in Vir- 
ginia, I judge that few English ladies were 
equal to the burden. She had to govern a 
number of slaves, in the absence of her hus- 
band at the county courts or at the House of 
Burgesses, and she had to oversee the over- 
seers. Still more important was her office 
of physician to the negroes and the convict 
laborers. She had a closet filled with drugs, 
studied medical books, and did everything 
except phlebotomy, for which some work- 
man on the estate was usually trained, — like 
the blacksmith who, at George Washing- 
ton's command, reluctantly let out the great 
man's life-blood. Some of these ladies, on 
becoming widows, and left with small means, 
repaired to one or another settlement and be- 
came regular practitioners. For some years 
after the foundation of Fredericksburg the 
only physician there was Mrs. Livingston. 
She was by no means a quack, or mere herbal- 
ist. The Vestry of St. George's Church paid 
her with substantial tobacco-fees for attend- 
ing the poor invalids of the parish. She is 
mentioned by Colonel William Byrd, of West- 
over, who visited Fredericksburg in 1732. In 
another place, apparently near Germanna, on 



126 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

the upper Rappahannock, — where Governor 
Spotswood had introduced German iron- 
workers and vintagers, — Colonel William 
Byrd was delayed by a storm for two days 
at the house of Mrs. Fleming, a noted "doc- 
tress. " He gives her treatment for the bloody 
flux. 'Tor this disease," he says, ''she told 
me she used very simple remedies, in most 
cases with very good success. She did the 
business either with hartshorne, drinks that 
had ye plantain leaves boiled in them, or 
with a strong decoction of St. Andrew's Cross 
[supposed Asoyrum Cnix-Andrece], in new 
milk instead of water. " Fleming was an early 
name on the Rappahannock, — the second 
wife of Lawrence Washington, immigrant, 
was a widow of that name. 

The condition of literature and education 
in colonial Virginia has been erroneously in- 
ferred from Governor Sir William Berkeley's 
report of the same under his administration, 
1641-1677: "I thank God there are no free 
schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not 
have these hundred years : for learning has 
brought disobedience and heresy and sects 
into the world, and printing has divulged 
them, and libels on the best governments. 
God keep us from both ! " Before the seven- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 127 

teenth century was out William and Mary Col- 
lege was flourishing, and elementary schools 
were springing up; in 1736 a spirited news- 
paper was founded at Williamsburg, where 
there was also a good theatre in which Shake- 
speare's plays were acted ; and in the same 
year was established the first of the free 
schools so much dreaded by Sir William. 
This was the Eaton Free School in Elizabeth 
County. Twelve years later education was 
made compulsory in Virginia, The law of 
1748 provided that where persons were in- 
capable of supporting or bringing up their 
children, or neglected their education, church- 
wardens should bind out such children as ap- 
prentices on condition that they should be 
taught the rudiments of learning and a trade. 
Every parish had its school, and the only 
reason why large academies were not gener- 
ally founded before the Revolution was that 
the gentry found it easy and more satisfac- 
tory to send their sons to the great schools 
of England. Girls were generally taught in 
their homes by tutors; but in towns the 
parish schools were attended by both sexes. 
Such was the case with the admirable school 
founded at Fredericksburg (about 1740) by 

the Rev. James Marye and some French peo- 

•7 



128 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

pie : the school in which three of our Presi- 
dents were taught — Washington, Madison, 
and Monroe. Major Byrd Willis has left a 
manuscript, loaned me by his granddaughter 
(Mrs. Tayloe of Fredericksburg), in which he 
says : ''My father, Lewis Willis, was a school- 
mate of General Washington, his cousin, who 
was two years his senior. He spoke of the 
General's industry and assiduity at school as 
very remarkable. Whilst his brother [Samuel] 
and other boys at playtime were at bandy and 
other games, he was behind the door cipher- 
ing. But one youthful ebullition is handed 
down while at that school, and that was 
romping with one of the largest girls ; this 
was so unusual that it excited no little com- 
ment among the other lads." 

In most of the homes of Virginia there were 
fine libraries, which generally included French 
as well as ancient classics. No one can read 
the letters of the colonial ladies without recog- 
nizing that they were well educated. Two 
of the best historical narratives of the seven- 
teenth century are by ladies. One is that of 
Verlinda Stone, wife of the Governor of Mary- 
land (then in prison), to Lord Baltimore, giv- 
ing an account of the struggle between the 
proprietary government and the Puritans ; the 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 129 

Other, Mrs. Ann Cotton's history of Bacon's 
Rebellion. These ladies may, indeed, have 
been born in England, but they had long re- 
sided in Virginia, and there is no reason to 
suppose that the culture shown in their lucid 
and simple narratives was greater than that 
of the ladies by whom they were surrounded. 
In the earlier part of the last century Vir- 
ginia was, socially, a very happy colony. 
The Rev. Hugh Jones reported, in 1724, that 
there were no poor people therein, and for 
more than a quarter of a century thereafter 
the same was true of the country places. In 
settlements like Williamsburg and Fredericks- 
burg a few free laborers dwelt who, when ill, 
fell on the parish, and one or two families of 
the gentry, brought low by misfortune, might 
require assistance ; but never was colony freer 
from evils of this kind. There is a mistaken 
impression that the ''indented" white laborers 
in Virginia were chiefly English convicts, like 
those imported by Captain Augustine Wash- 
ington. Such, however, was not the fact. 
The captain's grandfather had imported very 
respectable people, some, indeed, of the minor 
gentry,— one, for example, of the Gregory 
family with which his granddaughter inter- 
married. The earlier importations had been 



130 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

men, and it became important that more 
women should be brought over. But great 
care was taken to provide wives of respect- 
able character. Free voyage was offered to 
such women as could bring good credentials, 
and they were guaranteed safe return if they 
should not desire to remain in the colony. 
But few returned. The husbands they found 
in Virginia were under service for a term of 
years only. I have in my possession a letter 
(undated) written to Robert Carter of Nom- 
ony, apparently by one of these wives, the 
handwriting and diction of which are those 
of an educated lady : 

''Honour'd Sir,— When I saw you I was 
speaking to you concerning my two boys, and 
your answer was that you would consider 
about it. I should be glad to have an answer 
to it, for I want to move this fall nearer my hus- 
band, and at the same time I shou'd be glad to 
have my small children with me if your Hon- 
our pleases. As to my big children I should 
be glad to have them from your Honour, and 
to set your price on them — what I am to pay 
a year ; hoping your Honour will not be too 
hard on me, as I shall have rent to pay, and 
then all to find in clothes ; for it will always 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 131 

be my study to keep my payments good to 
you, and a comfort to me to have my chil- 
dren about me. Please to let me have an 
ansv/er by the Bearer. 

'*I remain your Humble servant, 

''Mary Harrison." 

Soon after Bacon's Rebellion (1676) a hun- 
dred English girls emigrated to Virginia, who 
seem to have belonged to families of higher 
social position. One of them married a Fitz- 
hugh, and probably most of them found suita- 
ble husbands. 

On the Rappahannock and Potomack there 
were but few Africans before the middle of 
the last century ; indeed there were only three 
or four thousand in the colony, and they were 
chiefly on the lower James River and on the 
York peninsula. The slaves were rarely over- 
worked ; they were not yet too pious to be 
merry, and those brought from Africa found 
Virginia a paradise compared with the savage 
countries they had left. On the Rappahan- 
nock their chief occupation was to gather to- 
bacco and convey it on scows to the river's 
mouth for the ocean vessels. Every such flat- 
boat, plenteous with rum, was the scene of 
perpetual dancing and laughter. Long after 



132 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

the dancing and laughter had ceased there 
remained— perhaps still remains— a supersti- 
tion that sometimes in the dusk a mysterious 
scow passes down the Rappahannock, with 
phantom figures on it, and peals of laughter 
and song, with patter of the "breakdown" 
echoing along the shores. 

Nevertheless, bright as was the horizon of 
old Virginia, the cloud was there, though no 
larger than a man's hand ; it is represented by 
the mixture of race-horses, tobacco, and hu- 
man chattels in a letter *'to Landon Carter, 
Esq., at Landsdown in Richmond County. 
By Gumby 



" . 



''Shirley, July 22d, 1739. 
''Dear Sir, 

"I think there was no occasion for your let- 
ter by Gumby, after I had said that you might 
send the Woman and Girl to Totusque and so 
to Corotoman if you disliked the Choice or 
price : and as to the long Dissertation about 
the Race Horse, it might well have been 
spared, when my Letter had left you at Lib- 
erty to go half of the Races or let them alone 
as you thought proper. Trinclo won the 
second Race near a length with Sam on his 
Back, and I shall give you Credit for the half 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 133 

of fifteen Pistoles and the half of 2 hhds. To- 
bacco, tho' 1 called no Witnesses to my Inten- 
tions. On the first race the loss was 20 Pis- 
toles and 4 hhds. Tobacco, and 5 Pistoles on 
Chiswell's Mare against Randolph's Mare, 
half of which I charge to your Account, and 
this shall be the last of the Sort. My journey 
to Corotoman being stopt by the sickness of 
my Wife and Family, I desire the favour of 
you to send me a set of Bills of Exchange for 
^100 steri by Simon Sallard, who has my Di- 
rection to wait on you for that purpose. I 
have nothing to do with your Bargains with 
Colonel Charles, nor do I enter into the Con- 
scionableness or unconscionableness of his 
Demands, nor do I suppose that you are 
obliged to let him have that Girl, which for 
anything I know, may be worth more than 
both his horses ; but if you can supply your- 
self with Slaves on better terms from Capt. 
Denham's ship, and those 1 sent you have re- 
ceived no injury from their journey, nor con- 
tracted any Distemper 1 could not foresee, you 
have still my free Consent to send ym to To- 
tusque, from which Mr. Ledford may contrive 
them down to Corotoman. 
''I am, Sir, your most affect, humble Serv't, 

''John Carter." 



134 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

This John Carter had a pretty long genea- 
logical road behind him, according to a gentle- 
man of Fredericksburg, who writes me : ''The 
Carter family are kin to everybody in Virginia 
in some way, could you go back far enough. 
I have a pedigree of Carters of Shirley through 
the Spotswood tree, going back in a straight 
line to Adam and Eve— not a missing link." 
John must, therefore, have inherited a good 
deal of bad temper as well as pleasant. His 
note to his scholarly relative, Landon Carter, 
sounds rather surly, though we do not know 
the exact situation. It also looks as if in him 
the Carter tree had borne a sort of domestic 
slave-trader. Nor is there anything very spor- 
tive in his allusions to the races. He seems to 
mean business. But it was out of just this 
kind of man that the rebel was made who de- 
fied the Stamp Act. He is the domesticated 
Virginian whom England may rule nominally, 
but not really. 

It may seem wonderful that the leading re- 
publicans should presently appear in these 
Barons, with their slaves and serfs ; but they 
were by no means democrats in the "rights- 
of-man" sense. They were a sort of planta- 
tion peers, who had developed a system of 
self-government of which the landholder was 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 1 35 

the unit. The colony was divided early into 
eight shires, and after these had multiplied 
the county lieutenant maintained high gu- 
bernatorial dignity. He was originally called 
"commander of plantations." He executed 
the laws, commanded the militia, organized 
courts martial, and was responsible to the 
governor at Williamsburg, as the latter was 
to the Crown. The County Court was of 
high character. The planters in a county 
made a sort of Council for their commander 
or lieutenant. There was thus developed a 
sort of county sovereignty which was the 
forerunner of the State sovereignty of a later 
era. The Virginia idea of equality was not 
that of individual men, but of representatives; 
and each planter represented his subjects, 
black and white. Their alliance with the 
masses in the Revolution was not due to any 
fundamental change. Indeed, that was a gen- 
tlemen's revolution, and the masses went to 
them as their natural leaders. 

Moreover, to be exact, it was the Crown 
that entered on a revolution. A rebellion 
against the English Constitution would have 
been impossible in Virginia. The King vio- 
lated the law, and sought the alliance of In- 
dians and negroes against their local rulers. 
18 



136 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

The Barons allied themselves with the peo- 
ple, who had different grievances against the 
Crown, — religious, democratic, or other, — 
but when the war was over they were again 
a peerage of the plantations. 

Every one of those planters was a law-abid- 
ing man. Beside his Bible, if not, indeed, on 
top of it, he kept John Mercer's "Laws of 
Virginia." He was always a lawyer, and 
studied the English books. In customs now 
lawless he was strictly legal : for instance, in 
the single combat, now called the duel, pro- 
vision for which remained in the English 
Code even within the present century. So, 
also, with the one or two uncommissioned 
law courts of the colony. In regions where 
courts have not been established, English law 
recognizes, as if regular, courts extemporized 
in emergencies, where trials are fair: such 
was the court of Judge James Lynch, as just 
a man as ever lived, whose name is now 
taken to shield cowardly ruffians who mur- 
der the defenceless. Nothing of that kind 
was known among the gentlemen who built 
up the power of Virginia. They were author- 
ized to administer laws to their slaves and 
serfs, but they must be laws. The great out- 
break of some of the gentry, a hundred years 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 137 

before the Revolution, against the govern- 
ment in Virginia is finding some defenders, 
as an honorable revolution. But it was not 
such; it originated in an effort to mob In- 
dians, and to maintain the privilege of ex- 
terminating them, and was justly crushed. 
From that time there was little trouble be- 
tween the whites and Indians, who were 
taught in the time of Spotswood and Gooch 
pretty much as they are to-day in the In- 
dian college at Hampton, Virginia. And 
when, after the middle of the eighteenth 
century, the colony was invaded by north- 
ern Indians, those of Virginia did not take 
their part. 

The planter on his large estate, in his lux- 
urious mansion and park, was content, and 
not anxious to participate in the general gov- 
ernment of the colony. This was especially 
the case with the planter on the Rappahan- 
nock. Landon Carter of Sabine Hall had to 
be dragged out of his retreat even in the 
stormy days when the Virginians seemed vir- 
tually abandoned to invaders from Canada. 
So it appears by a poetic epistle to him from 
Colonel Richard Bland (afterwards of the Con- 
tinental Congress), found among our Have- 
meyer manuscripts. It is given here less for 



138 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

its poetic art than as a suggestive document 
of the time (1758): 

''An Epistle to Landon Carter, Esq., upon 
hearing that he does not intend to stand a 
Candidate at the next Election of Burgesses. 

" You'l envy not, you say, Dear Sir, the great, 
Their Pomp, their Luxury, their pageant 

state, 
But bless'd with all that Heav'n below can 

give, 
A mind contented and a taste to live, 
You'l smile superior on their empty show. 
Their seeming pleasure but their real woe. 
At Sabine Hall, retir'd from public praise, 
You'l spend in learned ease your future days. 
Yet deign to hear a Muse, whose honest 

strain 
Did ne'er commend the vicious nor the vain, 
But sometimes in the cause of Virtue soars. 
And scorns less merit for her Lay, than 

yours. 
Whilst you, my friend ! with pleasing joy 

survey 
Your teeming flocks, as through the meads 

they stray, 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 1 39 

Whilst you, in Sylvian shades and pleasant 

groves, 
Hear Philomelas chanting to their Loves ; 
Whilst you, secure from all domestic strife. 
Enjoy delightful scenes of rural life ; 
Permit me to deplore my country's fate, 
The dire misfortunes of her tot'ring state. 
When Power's uplifted arm was hurling 

down, 
With spurious show of service to the 

Crown, 
A mighty weight, to crush our antient Laws, 
And with our spoils to gorge its greedy Jaws, 
You then appear'd, your Country's surest 

Friend, 
And did her Cause with manly sense de- 
fend. 
But now, alas ! you do not deign to hear 
Your Country's groans, involved in horrid 

War. 
Canadian Wolves, a bloody, savage Band, 
Invade with hostile arms her virgin Land, 
Forsaken by her Guardian and her Friend, 
Who used to her the sagest councils lend. 
But now in fields and meadows spends his 

days 
Recluse from public view, and scorns our 

praise ; 



140 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

But now the life of Tully's self is spent 
Supine at Rome, and carping momers sent 
With baleful nonsense, in the grandest 

Cause, 
T' assist her Senate, and ordain her Laws. 
Young pageant Elfs do now live pleas'd, and 

aim 
By shocking common sense, at public fame. 
Agelaus self would laugh to hear such Tools, 
The gewgaws of the vulgar and of fools. 
With Midas ears,bray out with vain pretence, 
' We are the men of weight and men of sense. ' 
Rise then j udicious Friend ! step boldly forth , 
And vindicate your merit and your worth ; 
Strike bold Pretenders, to the highest place, 
Into oblivion, and a just disgrace. 
Yes ! all ye sons of Folly and of Vice, 
From whom our present Evils take their rise. 
Yes ! all ye slaves of Luxury and Lust 
Avant ! Begone ! sink into native dust. 
Do not our annals with your names disgrace, 
Depart to your own dul and stupid race. 
The Country's Patriot once again appears 
To vindicate our Laws, and calm our fears. 
He'l suffer none, whilst he his Pen can wave. 
To be with ease and safety Fool or Knave. 
He'l always foremost be, and boldly rise 
A Friend to Virtue and a Foe to Vice. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 141 

Then stand once more, aloud your country 
cries, 

(Nor do her prayers nor her commands de- 
spise). 

Stand once again, and save a sinking Land, 

Which is sincerely wish'd, by Yours D k 

B d." 

The date of ''Dick" Bland's effusion is 
''June 20, 1758." Those who desire to fol- 
low its allusions will find an account of the 
period in Campbell's "History of Virginia." 

The requisites of government in colonial 
Virginia were church, court-house, prison, 
pillory, stocks. The writer remembers dis- 
used stocks that fifty years ago kept their 
place in Falmouth just outside the graveyard, 
where, as I was told by Miss Lucas, in her 
ninety-fifth year, the old church stood. The 
vestries had some heresies and impieties to 
deal with. In Spottsylvania, Larkin Chew, 
magistrate, and Thomas Chew, churchwar- 
den, appear to have been especially zealous 
in maintaining religious order. "Thomas 
Mosely and John Shelton," says Dr. Slaugh- 
ter, "were committed by Larkin Chew, upon 
information of Thomas Chew, church-warden, 
for taking upon themselves to baptize the 



142 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

child of one Ann Alsop. They were required 
to give bond and security for their good be- 
havior, and in default of appearing to answer 
at the next court, were ordered to be com- 
mitted to jail, and receive thirty-one lashes on 
their bare backs — sixteen in the evening, and 
fifteen next morning. At this term of the 
court [1724] there were thirteen presentments 
by the grand jury of absentees from public 
worship. Public opinion, however, seems to 
have been in advance of the legislation of the 
times upon the rights of conscience, as it ap- 
pears from the record that only one of these 
cases was prosecuted to execution." This 
case was John Digg, fined 105., or one hun- 
dred pounds of tobacco, or in lieu thereof cor- 
poral punishment. Probably the lay baptism 
was intended medicinally, or as a means of 
liberating the child from a supposed spell of 
witchcraft. But the tendency of Virginians 
was much more towards rationalism than su- 
perstition. Deistical opinions were widely 
prevalent in the colony during the eighteenth 
century. Two professors at William and Mary 
College, albeit clergymen, were deists, and 
distributed the works of English deists among 
the students. Peyton Randolph probably, 
certainly his brother John, the King's Attorney, 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 143 

Chancellor Wythe, and Jefferson were deists, 
and the first bishop, Madison, was a rational- 
ist. It was probably on account of the preva- 
lence of rationalism at William and Mary Col- 
lege that the father of James Madison sent him 
to Princeton — an incident that influenced the 
political future of the State, perhaps of the 
nation. Yet some of these latitudinarian gen- 
tlemen were more resolute churchmen than 
the English at home. Peyton Randolph, while 
King's Attorney, contended against the dis- 
senters that the Act of Toleration did not ex- 
tend to Virginia. ''Then neither does the Act 
of Uniformity," answered Samuel Davies, the 
Presbyterian apostle in Virginia, whose posi- 
tion was sustained in England. The Baptists 
were mobbed in some parts of the colony, 
but persecution was of a comparatively mild 
type in Virginia, and no life was sacrificed to 
bigotry. Governor Dinwiddie ordered young 
Colonel George Washington to lash the Qua- 
kers until they consented to help build forts, 
but he evaded the order. 



>9 



VII 



Warner Hall 




1849 Mr. Colin Clarke, of 
Richmond city, was residing 
in the superb colonial mansion 
known as Warner Hall. It ante- 
dated and surpassed all others 
as a monument of the wealth 
and culture which enabled transplanted scions 
of great English houses to produce a more 
glorious Gloucestershire in Virginia than any 
known in England. It had twenty-six rooms ; 
its ample hall and wainscoted drawing-rooms 
were hung with ancestral portraits ; its library 
was rich in early English books. It was built 



BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 145 

by the first of the Lewis family, who emigrated 
to Virginia as early, according to a family 
tradition, as 1635,— having ^^"^^ ^" ^^^ ^^^P 
'' Blessing." Sixtyyears ago, or thereabout, the 
heirs of its founder placed Warner Hall in the 
market ; and one of the family, Fielding Lewis, 
being near his end, offered to purchase it as a 
bequest to his son-in-law, a son of Chief Jus- 
tice Marshall, or else leave him its value in 
money. Marshall asked him his wishes. 
The old gentleman said that of course he had 
a partiality for the place, which had come 
down in the family for two hundred years; 
but, as his advice had been asked, he would 
answer as a disinterested party : "Never buy 
an hereditary estate, for many people think 
they have as much right there as the owner." 
Marshall took his advice, and the house and 
homestead passed out of the family. But Mr. 
Colin Clarke lavished his means on Warner 
Hall, and kept it in good condition. Time 
and nature conspired with him. The sun- 
shine of centuries had so hardened the cement 
that each great wall was as if built of one 
vast brick, and bade fair to stand until the 
last trump should blow it down. Yet all 
perished in a night by a casual breath of the 
owner. Mr. Clarke remarked at breakfast 



146 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

that, were it not for his love of Warner Hall, 
he would live all the time at Richmond. This 
was heard by a negro boy of some fourteen 
years, communicated to a female comrade of 
like age, to whom as to himself Richmond 
shone like the Golden City. Shortly after 
Warner Hall was a smoking ruin. 

In the once beautiful park nothing is left 
of the old buildings but the kitchen, — abode 
of the piccaninnies, so fatally frantic for 
their Richmond Jerusalem. With its huge 
fireplace the kitchen remains to this day, 
symbol of the stone rejected by the builders 
of Virginia's ancient greatness, and which 
ultimately ground it to powder. In early 
times the clergy of Virginia held that the 
negroes, being baptized, were servants of 
Christ, and could not be held as slaves. Some 
planters contested this, and the dispute was 
submitted to the ecclesiastical authorities in 
England. These pronounced in favor of the 
planters, and to their decision America owes 
a civil war and Virginia her desolations. 

It must be said, however, that Nemesis has 
rarely taken her disguise from the dusky race, 
left without share in the grandeurs they built 
up, and with brains too dwarfed to appre- 
ciate them. Nor can I discover an instance in 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 147 

which any old mansion or historic edifice in 
Virginia was destroyed by the Northern armies, 
though these soldiers — from the number of 
old papers whose disappearance is attributed 
to them — must have been mainly collectors. 
The magnificent mansion near Fredericksburg, 
' * Mannsfield, "built by Mann Page, was indeed 
burned duringthe war, but it was through some 
North Carolina soldiers who cooked their din- 
ner on its inlaid floor, perhaps fancying it some 
kind of stone. The present Nemesis of the old 
mansions is another rejected power — Steam. 
''The Tide Water Virginian," says Dr. Archi- 
bald Taylor, " was very conservative ; he had 
an easy way to market, and was opposed to 
railroads. He said they brought strangers, 
extravagances, and debt. Once in a while 
he took a run up to town and got a bad head- 
ache from the effects of the cordial greetings 
of his friends, and in a melancholy mood he 
would say that ' he never would go to one of 
those damned places again.' He was a man 
of importance at home, especially if he lived 
on land he had inherited and owned slaves 
that had come down by inheritance from his 
ancestors. In Baltimore or Philadelphia he 
was nobody." But now the grandson of this 
old Baron — whose town friends gave him 



148 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

too many juleps— vainly calls for the rail- 
road, which has gone another way. His fine 
old mansion is crumbling for need of repairs, 
and the repairers with their materials are at 
a costly distance. One after another the old 
houses come into the market ; and the new 
owners, finding them uninhabitable, some- 
times pull them down. Only lately the great 
Fauntleroy House on the Rappahannock was 
taken down for the value of its bricks, by an 
owner who probably never heard of the dar- 
ing Moore Fauntleroy, nor of Betsy the ' ' Low- 
land Beauty," for whom George Washington 
sighed in vain. A precisely similar fate — sale 
of its bricks — has also just overtaken "Elt- 
ham, " where Washington did not sigh in vain ; 
for probably the Bassett family tradition is 
right, that it was there, in the house of her 
sister, wife of Burwell Bassett, that the widow 
Custis consoled him for the ''cruel sentence" 
of Betsy Fauntleroy. 

The number of old mansions that survived 
the flames of civil war but were burnt after 
peace came, is large enough to be suspicious. 
Berkeley, Shirley, and Brandon on the James, 
Sabine Hall, Mount Airey, and one or two other 
places on the Rappahannock, are still kept up 
by descendants of those who built them ; and 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 149 

''Rosewell" is still the glory of Gloucester, 
under the care of Judge Fielding Lewis Taylor. 
But such estates and homes are maintained 
with difficulty in their hardly accessible re- 
gions, and the very sentiment that has kept 
them is in many cases anxious to part with 
them to wealthy outsiders who would sup- 
port their ancient dignity. 

Warner Hall was a picturesque frontispiece 
of all family history in Virginia. It was asso- 
ciated with the foundation of families who 
largely created historic Virginia, and who, dis- 
tributing themselves first along the Potomack 
and the Rappahannock, contributed pioneers 
to every part of the south and west. With War- 
ner Hall were especially connected the earlier 
ancestors of George Washington. Twenty- 
two years before Colonel John Washington is 
mentioned in the annals of Virginia, appeared 
the Hon. George Reade, grandfather of Wash- 
ington's grandmother, from whom probably 
came his name ''George." George Reade, 
brother of Robert, an official of the English 
State Office {temp. Charles I.), came to Vir- 
ginia on Government business in 1637. He 
resided with the governor (Harvey) for a time, 
was made secretary of the colony (1640- 1), 
was afterwards twice elected Burgess for 



150 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

James City, and was a member of the Royal 
Council (1657-60). His daughter Mildred 
married the famous Colonel Augustine War- 
ner, who had inherited from his father, an 
English officer, 2500 acres at Kiskiack, on the 
Pianketank River. From this gentleman the 
name ''Augustine" may have come into the 
Washington family. 

Colonel Augustine Warner had a brilliant 
though brief career. After graduation at Cam- 
bridge, England, he was at once chosen Bur- 
gess for Gloucester County, and in 1666, his 
twenty-fourth year, was made a member of 
Council, Sir William Berkeley being then gov- 
ernor. Ten years later he was Speaker of the 
House of Burgesses, the office next in im- 
portance to that of the governor. Speaker 
Warner it was who received the submission of 
Bacon, the rebel leader, who, when resuming 
his war with the Government, was careful to 
fix his headquarters at Warner Hall,— which 
was not, however, the Speaker's residence. 
Speaker Warner died in 1681. His portrait at 
" Rosewell, " residence of Judge Fielding Lewis 
Taylor, is that of a most noble and refined 
gentleman. From members of his family are 
descended various branches of the Nelsons, 
Peytons, Madisons, and Taliaferros. His sis- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 151 

ter Mary married Colonel Townley, and from 
them were descended 'Tight-Horse Harry" 
and General Robert E. Lee. His daughter 
Mildred married Lawrence, the grandfather 
of George Washington. 

But the great family with which the War- 
ners were connected was that of Lewis, — 
the Washingtons of the seventeenth century 
being by no means of equal education, rank, 
or wealth. The story of the Lewis family has 
never been published, and it is too long to be 
told here ; but a few facts from it will enhance 
the interest of the Lewis letters presently 
given. The first Virginian of the name was 
General Robert Lewis, son of Sir Edward, of 
Brecon, Wales,— said to be descended from 
an Earl of Dorset. The building of the man- 
sion afterwards called Warner Hall is attrib- 
uted to this Gen. Robert Lewis, who, in 1650, 
received a grantof 33,333^ acres in Glouces- 
ter. His son John married Isabella Warner, 
a sister of the famous Speaker, and in her 
honor Warner Hall was named. According 
to another tradition, however, it was this 
John Lewis [ist] who built Warner Hall ; and 
it is added that his wife was the daughter of a 
rich East Indian merchant, whom he married 
in England. Their son, John Lewis [2d], mar- 



152 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

ried Speaker Warner's youngest daughter, 
Elizabeth. A son of these, John Lewis [3d] 
(whose letter is printed in this chapter), mar- 
ried Frances Fielding (as is supposed); another 
son, Robert, married Jane Merriwether ; a third 
son, Charles, married Mary Howell. The fam- 
ily tradition is that their Fieldings are de- 
scended from Lord Fielding, Earl of Denbigh. 
The coat of arms of the Lewis family of Glou- 
cester is, perhaps, the most extensive and curi- 
ous in this country . It contains twelve shields. 
The device of the Lewis family proper is a 
dragon's head holding in its mouth a red hand. 
This has the chief place on the shield, and it 
also surmounts the helmet as crest. ' ' Curious 
stories," says Millington,'' have been invented 
by unheraldic writers, to account for the ap- 
pearance of the 'bloody hand' in a baronet's 
coat-of-arms. It has even been supposed to 
be a mark, not of honour, but of infamy, per- 
petuating the memory of some fearful act of 
revenge or cruelty by ancestors of such fami- 
lies as bear it. It was added, that on one 
condition only might it be expunged from the 
coat, — that the bearer should consent to pass 
seven solitary years, unshaven, and without 
speaking, in a cave ; but the truth is, that the 
hand formed part of the arms of the province 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 153 

of Ulster, and commemorates the daring of a 
bold adventurer, who had vowed to be the 
first to touch the shore of Ireland, and, find- 
ing his boat left behind, cut off his hand, and 
flung it before him to accomplish, in this lit- 
eral manner, his vow. James I. conferred this 
badge on the Order of English Baronets, as 
being Knights of Ulster, the defence and col- 
onization of that province being the ostensible 
reason of their creation. " Next to this on the 
Lewis shield is a chevron between three spear- 
heads, or. (golden), engrailed,— arms of Lewis 
of Van. The ancestors of this family are tra- 
ditionally said to have been lords in East 
Glamorgan, and the chief of those who claimed 
descent from Gwaethored, Prince of Cardi- 
gan. The Lewis ancestor was the represen- 
tative of Teon, of the lineage of the Princes 
of Britain, and the first Bishop of Caerleon. 
Later heralds have invested him with three 
Eastern crowns for armorial bearings. The 
tenth or eleventh in descent was Golydobun, 
Lord of Caerleon (wife Morfydd), whose em- 
blem is third on the Lewis shield,— a silver 
lion rampant, sable ground. It is noticeable 
that this lion appears on the shield of a branch 
of the Howell family in Wales,— Howell ap 
Griffith,— though the arms of Howell, Prince 



154 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

of Caerleon, were gules three triple-topped 
towers. The latter were the arms of Mary 
Howell, who married Charles Lewis of Vir- 
ginia, and occupy the fourth place on the 
Lewis shield. The fifth place is assigned to 
the arms of Jones, Breconshire, — vert a chev- 
ron between three wolf-heads erased, or. The 
sixth device is that of the Bruce family,— ar- 
gent, three chevronels, gules. Connection 
with the house of Courtenay is indicated by 
their three torteaux,— that is, cakes or tarts 
(Italian tor to). We find, of course, the 
Washington arms, and in the old manuscript 
which I am using (lent me by Captain Henry 
Howell Lewis) it is said: ''Sir Stephen de 
Wessington at the tournament of Dunstable, 
1327, bore for arms argent 2 bars gules, in 
chief 3 mullets pierced." At the bottom of 
the shield are the Fielding arms, — argent on a 
fesse azure three golden mascles or lozenges ; 
the Warner arms, — vert a cross engrailed, 
azure ; the Dangerfield cinquefoil, or. within 
a bordure az. bezantee. In the centre of the 
shield, concealing one of the Jones wolf-heads, 
is the shield of pretence, — in chief three heads 
(that look like boars, but may be the Gooch 
talbots), and three covered cups, arms of the 
Bowles family. The wife of Colonel Warner 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 155 

Lewis was a Bowles of Maryland, though she 
had previously married the son of Sir William 
Gooch. "Where the wife," says Millington, 
*'is an heiress, even in expectation, her arms 
are borne upon an escutcheon of pretence, or 
surtout, but the children bear their parents' 
arms quarterly." The Bowles arms, surtout 
— overall — show that Colonel Warner Lewis 
had married an heiress in the widow of the 
Honorable William Gooch. 

It is notable that the three covered cups, 
with covers more pronounced, are found in 
Brington Church, near Northampton, Eng- 
land, combined with the Washington arms, 
on the tomb of Lawrence Washington, great- 
great-great-grandfather of the general. The 
cups there represent the said Lawrence's wife, 
Margaret Butler. As there was a great But- 
ler family in Westmoreland, Virginia, one of 
whom was the first wife of Captain Augustine 
Washington, it would be interesting to know 
whether through them the three cups reached 
the shield of the Bowles family of Maryland 
and Virginia. 

The Lewis motto, Omne solum forti patria 
est (''Every land is a brave man's country"), 
seems to be a modern condensation of Patria 
est uhicunque vir fortis sedem elegerit (''A 



1^6 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

brave man's country is wherever he chooses 
his abode"), attributed to Quintus Curtius 
Rufus. It is the forerunner of Thomas Paine's 
motto, ''The world is my country." 

The Lewis pedigree is complicated by the 
fact that another Lewis came from Wales 
(1692) and founded a powerful family in King 
and Queen County, Virginia. In this line, 
also, the name Howell appears. The name of 
this immigrant was Zachary Lewis ; his son, 
of the same name, was the great lawyer at 
Fredericksburg in its first years, and one of his 
daughters married Chancellor Wythe . One of 
his descendants was John Lewis, of "Llan- 
gollen," Virginia, and afterwards of Kentucky, 
a celebrated classical teacher and author of 
several works — among them "Young Kate, 
or the Rescue : a Tale of the Great Kanawha," 
which contains graphic descriptions of several 
parts of Virginia. (It was published by Messrs. 
Harper in 1845.) Besides these two families 
founded by immigrants from Wales, there was 
yet another of the same race who came from 
the north of Ireland. According to a manu- 
script of John Lewis of "Llangollen" (Hay- 
den, p. 379), this immigrant's name was John. 
He married the daughter of a Scotch laird, set- 
tled in Ireland, was attacked by an Irish lord, 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 1 57 

killed him, fled to Virginia, and was father of 
the famous settlers of Augusta County, in 
that State,— Thomas, William, Andrew, and 
Charles. The descendants of these three 
Lewis families have intermarried from time to 
time, and have never been able to settle among 
themselves their ancestral belongings. With- 
out entangling my reader in these discussions, 
I may say that the Lewises of Warner Hall 
have a fairly traceable lineage— that given in 
this chapter. 

There are many instances in Virginia of the 
immigration of families related to each other 
in England, but drifting apart amid the exigen- 
cies of colonial life until their relationship was 
lost sight of. The marriage of Mary Howell 
(1717) to Charles Lewis, of 'The Bird," Albe- 
marle County, seems to have been regarded by 
the Lewises as the way in which their favorite 
name, Howell, entered the family. No doubt a 
good many of Mary (Howell) Lewis's descen- 
dants have borne the name, but Hay den (''Vir- 
ginia Genealogies," p. 380) finds in a "List of 
the Nobility and Gentry of England and Wales, 
1673," the name " Howel Lewis of Gwredog, 
Esq. , Angleseyshire. " In Virginia, John How- 
ell appears as a patentee of land in Henrico 
County, in 1639. There are grants, also, to 



158 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

Lieutenant John, William, and Rebecca How- 
ell, found by Mr. Brock, in Henrico, Elizabeth 
City, Northumberland, New Kent, Nanse- 
mond, Isle of Wight, Brunswick, and Am- 
herst counties. I am told that the Hon. How- 
ell Cobb of Georgia traced his descent from 
Mary Howell Lewis ; but one Howell Cobb 
had a patent in Lower Norfolk County in 1638. 
There are preserved in the Lewis family por- 
traits of ''Sir John and Lady Howell," who 
have not been identified with any of the 
above-named patentees. Unless the ''Sir" 
be a traditional title, it may be that they were 
the parents of Mary, and that Charles Lewis 
married her in Wales; for the Gloucester 
Lewises were ship-owners, were educated in 
English universities, and several of them were 
received at court. The portrait of Mary Howell 
in her sixteenth year is evidently the work of 
some European artist, it could not have been 
painted in any American colony at that time, 
nor could the portraits of the "Sir John and 
Lady Howell " mentioned. Twenty -five years 
after Mary's marriage, or in 1742, John Lewis, 
as we shall see, mentions a Miss Howell's 
engagement to William Lightfoot, which sug- 
gests a Howell family of high position in Vir- 
ginia; but whether Mary belonged to it is 




MARY HOWELL. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 1 59 

doubtful. The wife of Charles Lewis was 
held in highest honor by the Lewis family, 
who impaled her three towers or castles, 
arms of the princely house of Howell in Wales. 
She must have been a person of fine character- 
istics for the traditions concerning her to last, 
as they do, to this day. Miss Douthat, of 
Botetourt County, Virginia, has the original 
portrait of Mary Howell, of which there is an 
excellent copy in New York, belonging to an- 
other of her descendants, Mr. Coleman G. 
Williams. She is a quaint little lady, perhaps 
in her sixteenth year, and richly dressed in 
silk, with pearl necklace. Her golden hair is 
abundant and the eyes expressive. It may 
be mentioned that Robert Lewis, a brother 
of Charles, was grandfather of Merriwether 
Lewis, of the Lewis and Clarke exploring ex- 
pedition, a sketch of whom was written by 
Thomas Jefferson. 

The above John Lewis [3d] inherited Warner 
Hall. His wife, Frances Fielding, died in 1731, 
and Col. John, a councilor, devoted himself 
to public affairs. It was a custom of the 
time to honor the mother's name in the second 
son ; in this case Col. Fielding Lewis, with 
whom the name first appears in the family. 

The lady's first name was also honored, two of 
21 



l6o BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

her sons having so named their eldest daugh- 
ters. The eldest son, Warner, who inherited 
Warner Hall, married the widow Gooch, as we 
have seen. The portrait of Eleanor (Bowles) 
Gooch, a fine painting of a beautiful woman, 
hangs beside that of her husband, Warner 
Lewis, at " Belle Farm," the only old house 
left on the great Lewis land grant in Gloucester. 
(Their great-great-grandson, Judge Fielding 
Lewis Taylor, resides at ''Rosewell," Mrs. 
Taylor [nee Deans] being a descendant of the 
Dandridge family.) The second son of John 
Lewis [3d] was Colonel Fielding, who mar- 
ried, first, Katharine Washington, first cousin 
of the general ; and, secondly, Betty, the gen- 
eral's sister. The third son of John Lewis [3d] 
was Charles, who married Mary Randolph, 
according to a disputed statement, and found 
a second wife in Lucy Taliaferro. This young- 
est son, Charles, was a captain under Wash- 
ington in the expedition against the French, 
1755, and his valuable journal of that march 
has just been published by the Virginia His- 
torical Society, from the original in possession 
of his grandson, Thomas Waring Lewis, of 
''Mansfield," Caroline County. 

Hitherto it has been known of John [3d] that 
he was a member of the Royal Council in Vir- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK i6l 

ginia, and that he was the owner of Warner 
Hall until his death (Nov., 1745). But my 
reader will have the pleasure of meeting him 
personally in his seventy-third year, in the 
lively letter here printed. It was written to 
Major Lawrence Washington, just after the 
Cartagena troubles, and no doubt made him 
homesick enough. The letter is addressed: 
' ' To Capt. Lawrence Washington, of the Amer- 
ican Forces. P. Capt. Briggs. At Jamaica." 

"Virginia, June 28th, 1742. 
''Capt. Lawrence Washington. 
''Dear Sir, 

"Having this opportunity by a Vessel of 
our own, John Briggs Master, consigned to 
Capt. Robert Turner by the advice of our good 
Governor [Gooch], 1 could not let it pass with- 
out letting you know that we are well, and 
much as you left us. My son Warner is come 
from England, and 1 have taken him into part- 
nership by giving him half of all my vessels 
and cargoes. Your brother Augustine is just 
now come inn [from Appleby School, England] 
and is gone up to his father [near Fredericks- 
burg]. I have not seen him, but I hear he is 
very desirous of being with you. Mr. Page 
is married to Miss . Alice Grymes, and Mr. 



l62 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Willis will soon be so to Miss Betty Carter. 
Miss Howell I believe partly engaged to Mr. 
Wm. Lightfoot. Mr. Moore, Mr. Baylor, Mr. 
Grymes, Mr. Burwell, and all the young gentle- 
men and ladys of any note are yet single, and 
like to be so as far as I know. Mr. Thomas 
Nelson is come in and gone to make his ad- 
dresses to Miss Lucy Armistead, and generally 
thought it will be a match. Mr. Wormely and 
Colo Charles Carter has lost their Ladys. Mr. 
Wormely is making his addresses to Miss 
Bowles of Maryland ; how it may fare with 
him I cannot say. The poor Secretary is near 
his death with a dropsy. The Governor has 
not yet recovered his health, or do I think he 
ever will perfectly. Our Assembly is now broke 
up, but has done nothing material besides con- 
tinuing the Tobacco Law for four years longer. 
All your friends and acquaintances are very 
well. Miss Randolph is yet single, though 
many offers has been made her ; it is reported 
by some that she stays for you, but not be- 
lieved by many, for the danger of war and a 
sickly climate no person can depend upon. I 
pray God give you a safe delivery from them. 
''And now I have given you as plain and 
short a detail of the affairs of this part of the 
world as possibly I can, time not admiting me 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 163 

to be more full, the vessel waiting for my dis- 
patch. 

'' If these should meet with you at Jamaica 
and there is anything in our poor Cargoe that 
may be acceptable to you 1 have given the 
Capt orders to let you have it Gratis. I should 
be very glad of a line from you giving me as 
short and full account of the affairs with you 
as I have done here. We have no news that 
can be depended upon from England a great 
while. 1 can only say that I hope they will 
be in earnest now, for I think they have only 
been at play hitherto with the lives and for- 
tunes of thousands of poor souls. I cannot 
see what delight you can take in such a life. I 
heartily wish you safe here with Honour, that 
so wished for title, so much desir'd to be gaind 
in the field of Battle ; but I think may as de- 
servedly be acquir'd at home in the service of 
his Country, County, Parish and neighbour- 
hood, in Peace and Qiiietness. 
'M am Dear Sr 
''Your most affecte Kindsman 
''Jno Lewis." 

It is rare indeed to get from the olden time 
so much entertaining and useful gossip as the 
above letter contains. It may have been writ- 



1 64 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

ten from Warner Hall, but more probably from 
Williamsburg, as it is apparently written just 
after a consultation with the governor. Au- 
gustine (Austin) Washington might have 
landed at either place, on his return from 
England, and in a social sense they were one 
neighborhood. The Mr. Page who married 
Alice Grymes (ist wife) was Mann Page of 
Rosewell. William Lightfoot did marry Miss 
Howell, who by him was beaten, so that she 
left him, Henry Willis, son of Col. Henry, 
founder of Fredericksburg, by his first wife 
(General Washington's cousin), is probably 
the gentleman mentioned as betrothed to 
Miss Betty Carter. And this young lady is 
probably the same as the "Elizabeth Carter, 
14 years old," whose outfit for her first season 
(1739) is given on our page 121. She was 
"King Carter's" granddaughter, and appar- 
ently ward of John Lewis, who ordered the 
outfit, and now reports the execution done 
on the heart of his relative from Fredericks- 
burg. Lucy Armistead, to whom Thomas 
Nelson, uncle of the famous general and 
governor (then four years old), paid his ad- 
dresses, was one of the great Darmstadt 
family. They called their mansion, after the 
country from which they emigrated, "Hesse," 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 1 65 

but changed their name to Armistead. Ralph 
Wormeley, who had 'Most his lady" (Sarah, 
daughter of Col. Edmund Berkeley), suc- 
ceeded in his suit for the hand of Miss Bowles 
(Jane, daughter of Geoffrey Bowles), became 
a famous member of Council, and stood by 
his oath of loyalty at cost of his home and 
happiness. His wife, Jane Bowles, was a near 
relative of the widow Gooch (nee Bowles), who 
married Warner Lewis, son of John, whose 
letter we are considering. The ''poor Secre- 
tary" alluded to was presumably James Blair, 
D. D. He had acted as lieutenant-governor 
during the absence of Sir William Gooch on 
the Cartagena expedition. The last act per- 
formed by Blair as governor was on July 25, 
1741 ; so we may assume that the "good 
Governor" returned to his post about that 
time, but broken in health. 

It is doubtful whether it was not at Carta- 
gena that Lawrence Washington's constitution 
also received its death-blow. "Miss Ran- 
dolph "—probably Mary Randolph, who some 
say married Charles Lewis, son of John, who 
writes the letter— did not stay for the captain, 
it may be hoped. And, by the way, this letter 
of John Lewis shows that Captain Lawrence 
Washington's name was not yet connected in 



1 66 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

the family with Ann Fairfax, whom he married 
a year later. That the health of Lawrence was 
feeble appears by a letter to him from Warner 
Lewis, which may suitably follow that of his 
father. It was written while he was on a visit 
to his relatives at Fredericksburg, — the Wil- 
lises of Willis Hill, known to recent history 
as Marye's Heights. Gloucester County was 
the original seat of the Willis family in Vir- 
ginia. (Waters's ''Genealogical Gleanings in 
England," 111., p. 239.) 

*' Fredericksburg, April the 26th, 1747. 
''Dear Sir, 

"You remember when I saw you at this 
place how much distress'd 1 was for Horses, 
and after continuing near a week in that man- 
ner was forced to put up with borrowed ones 
to Pageland ; and after inquiring the true dis- 
tance between us found it was impossible for 
our Naggs to hold out so far as your House, 
where I shou'd most certainly have been, had 
we not been so unfortunate losing our Horses, 
but it was impracticable as things have fallen 
out. If I shou'd not see you before 1 sail (wch 
will be in June) and there shou'd be anything 
in England that I can be of servis to you in, 
I will with pleasure do it. I shou'd be glad 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 167 

to see you at Bath, being well convinced 
within myself that nothing woii'd be more 
beneficial to your health ; and if you continue 
in that declining state the sooner you go the 
better, as probably that must be the conse- 
quence one time or other, tho' 'twou'd give 
me great pleasure to hear that you did well 
without being to so great inconveniency. My 
compliments to your Lady concludes me, Sir, 
''Yours most sincerely, 

''Warner Lewis." 

The superscription on this letter is "To 
Majr Lawrence Washington, in Fairfax Coty." 
Beneath it (on the back): "Mrs. Willis desires 
you will not send for her till after the June 
Fair." (This fair was the great social event of 
northern Virginia.) The "Bath" alluded to 
was the Berkeley Springs, in which the in- 
valids of the time had such childlike faith that 
they would sometimes dwell there in tents, 
catching their death in the endeavor to end 
their ailments. The name "Pageland" was 
popularly assigned to 8000 acres owned by 
the Pages in Frederick County, also to 1000 
acres of theirs in Prince William, the latter 
being on the way from the lower country to 
Fairfax. 



l68 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Among our letters there is another from 
Warner Lewis, which, though of much later 
date than the others, may be included here. 
It is addressed to Col. Landon Carter of Sabine 
Hall, and dated September i8, 1765. 

"My dear Sir, — This will be delivered to 
you by my nephew Will. Armistead, who in- 
forms me that you are acquainted with his 
errand, which I hope meets with your appro- 
bation. 1 heartily wish my God Daughter 
Molly may like him, if she does the sooner 
they are married the better. The house at 
Hesse is at present free from inhabitants by 
the young Codds succeeding with our old 
acquaintance the w-d-w. It will give me 
great pleasure to see Miss Molly mistress of 
it. Armistead is a prudent young man, very 
good natured, and I am sure will make her 
happy. You have been young yourself, for 
God's sake hurry on the match if no objec- 
tions ; it will be to their mutual advantage to 
be soon settled, and I hope once in my life I 
may have a chance to spend a merry hour 
with you and your niece on the banks of the 
Pianketank. I am Dr Sir, 

''Yrs most sincerely, 

''Warner Lewis." 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 169 

This letter is endorsed by Col. Carter: 
''Col. Warner Lewis." William Armistead 
was the heir of " Hesse," already alluded to, 
on the Pianketank, and probably the nephew 
of Mrs. Warner Lewis (nee Bowles). 

Dr. Archibald Taylor, a great-grandson of 
Warner Lewis, says that as the Revolution 
drew nigh, the old gentleman said ''he saw 
that the separation from England was irresis- 
tible, sooner or later, but he hoped the con- 
nection would have lasted his time ; his boys 
might do as they pleased, he would remain at 
his home, Warner Hall, and take sides with 
neither party; he was too old to change." 
All of his "boys" espoused independence 
with ardor, as also did his younger brothers. 
But the Revolution had an effect on many of 
the baronial estates much like that of the civil 
war on those of a century later. A glimpse 
of the later time is gained in the following let- 
ter of Warner Lewis [2d] concerning Warner 
Lewis [3d], dated "Warner Hall, Sunday, Jan- 
uary 2, 1 79 1." It is sent me by Mrs. Payne, 
of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. 

"Warner goes to Williamsburg, my dear 
Becky, to collect his movables, and to trans- 
port them to York in the cart you mean to 



1 70 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

send for your pork, which will lighten the 
expense to you and be an accommodation 
to me. 

''He is now come to that time of life when 
if he is disposed to study he can as well do it 
here as in Williamsburg ; and if he will not 
build up on the foundation he has lain, or 
ought to have lain, the loss will be all his own. 
To me his stock of knowledge appears to be 
very slender considering the happy opportuni- 
ties he has had of acquiring improvement, 
and the sums that have been paid to tutors 
for this purpose. 1 was anxious to give him 
a profession that might aid the small inheri- 
tance he will have, and I confess I had it very 
much at heart that he should acquire some 
fame as well as profit from the exercise of that 
profession ; but I fear my aims and expecta- 
tions will be mortifyingly disappointed unless 
there should be a greater change in him than 
I can flatter myself with. 

''Give my love to Betsy if you please, and 
tell her that both my head and hand are so 
much affected as to render writing very pain- 
ful, which must be my apology for not an- 
swering her letter. I am, my dear Becky, 
most affectionately yours, 

"Warner Lewis." 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 



171 



The writer of the above letter had been 
educated at Oxford, and presented at court 
before returning to America, where he did 
valiant service in the Revolution and earned 
the friendship of Washington. It was written 
to his sister Rebecca, who married Dr. Robert 
Innes, brother of the attorney-general. Al- 
though the third Warner does not appear to 
have been up to the high standard of culture 
in Warner Hall, the family reared in that place 
has to-day many eminent representatives in 
the West and South. A family tree is known 
by its fruits ; and, so judged, there are few in 
America more sturdy or more worthy than 
that whose root was planted in Warner Hall. 




VIII 



IVord-fossils and Folk-lore 




iFTY years ago the early oyster- 
boat was an institution of the 
Rappahannock. About sunrise 
in every town and village on the 
river, black servants with tin 
buckets and white lads with 
capacious mouths flocked to the moorings 
where the negro oystermen dispensed the 
breakfast supplies and gave casual morsels on 
the half-shell to the watering palates around. 
They were called Carter Creek oysters. The 
name may be inexact ; but they came from the 
lower Rappahannock, and chiefly, I believe, 
from beds cultivated by old ''King Carter" of 



BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 1 73 

Corotoman. His name added an aristocratic 
and historical flavor to the delicious bivalve, 
which in turn preserved in pleasant associa- 
tions the memory of much-abused Robin. For 
the man who exacted rents for Lord Fairfax 
and for his own hundred thousand acres could 
not be popular. On his tomb in Corotoman 
Church, which he built, was chalked : 

''Here lies Robin, but not Robin Hood, 
Here lies Robin that never was good. 
Here lies Robin that God has forsaken, 
Here lies Robin the Devil has taken." 

But the memory of Robert Carter, who took 
his place as successor to the Rappahannock 
kings, survived all lampoons. Every Virginia 
family is proud to impale his cart-wheels vert, 
which should have quartered three Carter 
oysters argent,— the oldest family being par- 
venu beside these natives. Even from the 
gastronomic point of view, it is a fair earthly 
immortality for any name to be connected 
with the finest of oysters ; but the Rappahan- 
nock bivalve has larger claims to respect. It 
may be justly associated with tobacco as a 
factor of American history. It was the great 
oyster-beds that determined both the aborigi- 



174 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

nal and English settlements of the Rappahan- 
nock. They caused the sojourn there of Capt. 
John Smith; he and his men carried these 
oysters in bottles, and were supported by them 
in making their explorations, which resulted 
in friendly treaties with the natives. To the 
feast of oysters and tobacco the Englishmen 
added rum, and the civilities began which 
ended in civilization. The '' eightie who lived 
upon Oysters in June and July," as the chron- 
icle relates, were pioneers of the multitudes 
whom that prolific fishery attracted, as well 
as the opportunities of trade with the Indians 
previously attracted by the same. There was 
thus built up gradually a Rappahannock com- 
monwealth which steadily developed a cer- 
tain independence of the authority established 
on the James. In the Revolution there was 
not one Tory known on the Rappahannock. 
Its ancient and proud Barons all threw them- 
selves into the cause of independence. 

George Fitzhugh, of Port Royal, writing in 
De Bow's "Review" (April, 1859), says : ''A 
few miles below [Port Royal] a silver medal, 
appearing by the inscription to have been pre- 
sented by Captain Smith to Powhatan, was 
picked up some twenty years since. At Port 
Tobago, once the property ot Sir Thomas 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 175 

Lunsford, there was also an Indian village. 
Many Indian relics have been disinterred or 
found lying on the ground there. We pre- 
sume these Indians belonged to the tribe of 
Mattapoisi. Descendants of that tribe, mixed 
with the negro, still dwell in our neighbor- 
hood. We do not believe any Indian tribe 
ever resided permanently above Port Royal 
[/. e., on the Rappahannock]. There was no 
good fishing above, no oysters, and the stiff 
and stony lands twenty miles above could 
not be cultivated by their wooden or stone 
implements." 

In the neighborhood of Falmouth and Fred- 
ericksburg Captain Smith encountered some 
stony-hearted tribes of the stony lands, but 
on the lower river oysters and pipes had made 
the Indians comfortable and conciliatory, as 
the same luxuries were said in after time to 
soften the backbone of many a Washington 
politician. On the lower river the early friend- 
liness is preserved in the larger retention of 
Indian names, not only for villages but resi- 
dences — as Corotoman and Moratico. The / 
latter name is a corruption of Moraughticund, 
a king mentioned by Smith, between whom 
and '' Rapahanock" there was a quarrel about 
abducted squaws, which the English captain 

23 



176 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

terminated. ' ' The three women were brought 
our Captaine; to each he gave a chayne 
of Beads; and then causing Moraughticund, 
Mosco, and Rapahanock stand before him, bid 
Rapahanock take her he loved best, and 
Moraughticund chuse next, and to.Mosco he 
gave the third. Upon this away went their 
Canowes over the water to fetch their veni- 
son, and all the provision they could, and they 
that wanted Boats swam over the river : the 
darke commanded us then to rest. The next 
day there was of men, women, and children, 
as we conjectured, six or seven hundred, 
dauncing and singing, and not a Bow or Ar- 
row seene amongst them. Mosco changed 
his name to Uttasantasough, which we inter- 
pret Stranger, for so they call us. All promis- 
ing ever to be our friends, and to plant Corne 
purposely for us ; and we to provide hatchets, 
beads, and copper for them, we departed, giv- 
ing them a volley of shot, and they us as loud 
shouts and cryes as their strengths could 
utter." 

So did the seventeenth century open on 
the Rappahannock. We may compare this 
earliest festival of whites and Indians with 
one that took place eighty years later, or in 
1688 — easily imagined from the following 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 1 77 

entry, for a copy of which I am indebted to 
the clerk of Essex County, — Rappahannock 
County lying then on both sides of the river: 

"At a Court held for Rappahannock County, 
the 2 day of January Ano Dom: 1688. Pres- 
ent : Colnii jno. Stone, Capt. Geo. Taylor, 
Capt. Samii Blomfield, — Justices. 

" It having pleased Almighty God to bless 
his Royall Majesty with the birth of a son 
and his subjects with a Prince of Wales, and 
for as much as his Excellency hath sett apart 
the 1 6th day of this inst. Janry. for solemniz- 
ing the same, To the end therefore that it 
may be don with all the expression of Joy 
this county is capable of. This Court have 
ordered that Capt. Geo. Taylor do provide 
and bring to the North side Court House for 
this County as much Rum or other strong 
Liquor with sugar proportionable as shall 
amount to six thousand five hundred pounds 
of Tobacco to be distributed amongst the 
Troops of horse, compa of foot, and other 
persons that shall be present at the solemni- 
tie. And that the said sum be allowed him at 
the next laying of the levy, as also that Capt. 
Samii Blomfield provide and bring to the South 
side Court House for this County as much 



178 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Rum or other strong Liquor with sugar pro- 
portionable as shall amount to three thousand 
five hundred pounds of Tobacco, to be dis- 
tributed as above at the South side Court 
House, and the said sum to be allowed him 
at the next laying of the levy." 

The reason why the ''solemnitie" required 
nearly double as much rum on the north side 
of the river was because of the larger number 
of Indians there. In Smith's map there are 
thirty-four Indian settlements on the north 
side of the Rappahannock, and only nine on 
the south side. 

While the Indians were thus made royally 
drunk, royalty was in sore straits. Before the 
year was out the baby prince, welcomed in 
Virginia with rum ''solemnities," had become 
a Pretender. William and Mary advanced to 
try and give the poor Indians something bet- 
ter than rum, but the colony did not distrib- 
ute any strong liquors on their account. It 
had suffered much under the Stuarts, yet so 
obstinate was its loyalty to them that only 
in April, 1689, and after repeated commands 
from the Privy Council, were William and 
Mary proclaimed Lord and Lady of Virginia. 
In all the history of Virginia there is visible 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 179 

this loyal enthusiasm, clinging at every crisis 
to the old order, while New World necessities 
were steadily undermining it. Throughout 
the country the colonists generally named 
their homes with affectionate recollection of 
ancestral associations, — as Epping Forest, 
Stratford, Bedford, Tusculum, Epsom, Wind- 
sor, Snowden, Llangollen, Ellerslie, Carmora, 
Salvington, Gunston, Iselham, Inglewood, 
Glencairn, Boscobel, Landsdown, Chatham, 
Marlborough. They had begun by founding 
cities in honor of their kings and princes, — 
James City, Elizabeth City, Charles City, City 
of Henricus (Henricopolis). Hardly a vestige 
of any one of them remained in the second 
generation, and some were never built. Ban- 
croft was so lost in searching after them that 
he supposed Henricopolis to have occupied 
the site of the present city of Richmond, 
whereas it was near the Appomattox, on 
Farrar's Island, as the peninsula (afterwards 
Cox's) was then called. Tobacco issued a 
''Counterblaste" more potent than that of 
King James against itself, and before it fell 
James City. Even so fell Henricopolis. Sir 
Thomas Dale built forts there with names 
both loyal and pious — Elizabeth, Charity, Pa- 
tience, and Mount Malady for the sick. The 



l8o BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

plantation he called ''Hope in Faith." But 
not all this combination of piety and powder 
could resist the siege of Tobacco, which com- 
manded that there should be no city life in 
Virginia for a time, but plantation life. So 
the "city" had to survive in county names. 
The City of Henricus preserves, not its polis, 
but only an abutment of it in the terminal 
''o" of Henrico County. 

In the early days of the American Revolu- 
tion a perfervid member of the Virginia As- 
sembly proposed to change all county names 
that savored of monarchy, — such as King 
George, King and Qiieen, Prince William. 
So fiercely did this patriotic purist anathema- 
tize royal names that he was challenged to 
mortal combat by a fellow-member named 
King. The duel did not come off, and the 
motion to abolish royal nomenclature re- 
treated under ridicule. Fortunately most of 
the old names, in whose succession the an- 
nals of Virginia are largely recorded, remain. 
Many of the local names have indeed been 
overlaid, and some survive only in frag- 
ments. ' ' Hampton " inadequately honors the 
Earl of Southampton, — Shakespeare's friend, 
Virginia's friend, — whose name was given to 
the river. The Indian School at Hampton 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK l8l 

might well set up some memorial of the fact 
that the place was named after a nobleman 
under whose presidency the Virginia Com- 
pany, in 1 62 1, set apart a thousand acres for 
the foundation of a 'Tree School " in Virginia. 
The old Indian names have suffered more 
corruption. The venerable Kiskiack Church 
near Yorktown is now ''Cheesecake," and on 
the James River Monacan has turned to Mana- 
kin. But some of these modifications are not 
mere corruptions, and indeed have instructive 
significance. Two of the most famous names 
— Potomack and Aquia — seem to have been 
modified by Europeans who had some memory 
of the Greek T:oza\i6Q, river, and the Latin aqua, 
water. The latter seems to have been formed 
from "Qiiiyough," a king or tribe near the 
creek. In Captain Smith's map we find 'Tata- 
womeck." The Indian name of the upper 
Potomack was Cohongoruton, and it is so 
named in the Act of 1738 defining Frederick 
County. The south branch of the river was 
called Wappatomaka. In his early land grants 
Lord Fairfax used the names Potowmack and 
Wappatomack, and Cohongoruton disap- 
peared. 

In the last century a wayfarer appeared in 
some of the Virginia villages and was hospi- 



1 82 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

tably received, on the strength of a note he 
bore in the following words : 

"The historian and philosopher Volney 
needs no recommendation from — G.Wash- 
ington." 

Could Volney return, he might find in Vir- 
ginia materials for a new volume of "Ruins," 
and they would consist largely of the brand- 
new houses and modern military names under 
which the Past is largely buried. Such, how- 
ever, is the inevitable process of historic strati- 
fication. The earlier names become fossils, 
and have to be dug out by the antiquarian. 
The old mansion opposite Fredericksburg 
belonged to Mr. Lacy when the Civil War 
broke out, and the Army of the Potomack 
christened it "Lacy's"; but its real name, 
"Chatham," had previously replaced some 
earlier name now lost. The "Washington 
Farm" near by had overlaid "Ferry Farm," 
which tells where the ferry plied before the 
Rappahannock was bridged ; and the latter 
name had replaced "Pine Grove," which at- 
tested the forest that once grew on fields now 
bare. "Marye's Heights," so memorable in 
the Civil War, replaced its previous name 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 183 

''Brompton," as that had overlaid ''Willis's 
Hill," which long preserved the memory of 
Colonel Henry Willis, founder of Fredericks- 
burg, in the name of which town, and its 
streets,— Princess Ann, Charles, etc.,— an- 
cient loyalties have their monuments. 

There are many homestead names that 
pique antiquarian curiosity. Did ''Bromp- 
ton " remember the London residence of the 
Rev. James Marye, or ''Wakefield" transmit 
some association of the Washingtons with 
the Yorkshire town ? Does Sabine Hall owe 
its name to the classical Landon Carter's in- 
terest in the squaws carried off by the Mo- 
raughticunds, like the Sabine women of 
antiquity ? There are, however, still a good 
many names which do not leave us to con- 
jecture. Mannsfield was the seat of Mann 
Page, Edmundsbury of Edmund Pendleton, 
and Tazewell HalloftheTazewells. "Crow's 
Nest" was given to Travers Daniel's place on 
the Potomack because he had a swift vessel 
called ' ' The Crow. " The farm on the Accokeek 
where Captain Augustine Washington had 
his iron-works is still called "The Furnace," 
and that part of it which yielded its forest for 
the furnace is called "The Woodcutting." 
Among the footprints of the Revolution is a 
24 



1 84 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

farm called ''The Forge, "just above Falmouth 
(Stafford side), where one may pick up bits 
of iron left from the time when cannon were 
made there under superintendence of Colonel 
Fielding Lewis and Major Charles Dick. ' ' The 
gentlemen of this town," wrote Major Dick 
to the governor (Fredericksburg, January 4, 
1 781), ''and even the Ladys have very spir- 
itedly attended at the Gunnery and assisted 
to make up already 20,000 cartridges with 
bullets from which the Spottsylvania Militia, 
and also from Caroline, have been supplied, 
as also above 100 guns from the Factory." 
This "factory" is now "The Forge," and the 
place where the guns were delivered in Fred- 
ericksburg is still called "The Gunnery." 
About the same time, we may feel sure, the 
house of General Weedon in Fredericksburg 
received the name it still bears— "The Sen- 
try Box." 

Our Folklore Society would be repaid by 
a month's ramble in Tidewater Virginia. A 
great many strange events went to make the 
peculiar character of that region, and some 
of them occurred in such remote places that, 
in the absence of newspapers, they may be 
described as prehistoric. But here and there 
they are recorded in local names and tradi- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 185 

tions. These traditions are, indeed, sometimes 
slovenly, as where "Mock Jack" is turned 
into ^^Mob Jack Bay." ^'Blackbeard's Point," 
near Hampton, was so named, it is said, 
because the pirate's head was displayed 
there in terrorem. The death of Teach ex- 
cited attention in all of the colonies ; and it 
was probably the ballad on that event writ- 
ten by the young printer, Benjamin Franklin, 
which brought him the friendship and pa- 
tronage of Governor Spotswood. Probably 
the pirate's head was exposed at that point, 
and possibly neighboring ' ' Wolf's Trap " was 
associated with Teach. For it is noticeable 
that the names of this kind that last longest 
are those derived from some tragical or terri- 
ble event. It is now the fashion to write of 
Nathaniel Bacon as a patriotic revolutionist, 
but the spot which has not been washed from 
his hand is visible in the name "Bloody 
Run," near Richmond, which ran with more 
Indian blood than it had water. 

To hang up Blackbeard's head would be in 
accordance with the custom of the times. The 
Rev. Frank Stringfellow, an Episcopalian cler- 
gyman of Virginia, tells me of a remarkable 
series of names recording the similar fate of 
some negro offender. In traveling from the 



l86 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Appomattox, Chesterfield County, one passes 
" Skinquarter Creek," where the criminal was 
hung and flayed, his skin being displayed. 
Journeying on the high-road, one finds in 
Powhatan County ''Negro Arm Road"; in 
Hanover County is reached ''Negro Foot 
P. O."; and finally, in Orange County, "Ne- 
gro Head Run." 

The long and furious struggle between the 
Indians and the white settlers for the valley 
of Virginia is recorded in many names and 
traditions. A great battle was fought on the 
Wappatomaka (great south branch of the Po- 
tomack), whose only record is the "Painted 
Rock." Kercheval, writing in 1833, says: 
"On this rock is exhibited the shape of a 
man with a huge blotch, intended, probably, 
to represent a man bleeding to death. The 
stain, it appeared to the author, was made 
with human blood. The top of the rock pro- 
jects over the painted part, so as to protect it 
from the washings of the rains, and is on the 
east side of the rock. How long the stain of 
human blood would remain visible in a posi- 
tion like this, the author cannot pretend to ex- 
press an opinion ; but he well recollects the 
late Gen. Isaac Zane informed him that the 
Indians beat out the brains of an infant (near 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 1 87 

his old iron-works) against a rock, and the 
stain of the blood was plainly to be seen about 
forty years afterwards. In this battle, it is 
said, but one Delaware escaped, and he did 
so by leaping into the river, diving under the 
water, and continuing to swim until he crossed 
the Cohongoruton [Potomack]." 1 have seen 
in India red stains on a rock said to be the 
blood of St. Thomas, shed there eighteen cen- 
turies ago ; and here is a superstition of the 
same kind in Virginia. Human blood does 
not last so long, but ''bad blood" does; and 
it is to be feared that the Painted Rock, in the 
absence of geological knowledge, long called 
down vengeance upon the poor red men. 

A pleasanter set of legends are found along 
the Rappahannock, and particularly about the 
old town of Falmouth, which "before the 
war" was distinguished for its wealth and 
aristocratic homes. Most of the great fami- 
lies of the Northern Neck had representatives 
there. It organized an association against the 
Stamp Act, and in the Revolution was an im- 
portant resource. From Falmouth provisions 
were sent to beleaguered Boston. Its cotton- 
factories, flour-mills, warehouses, are now 
ruins ; its once elegant homes are mainly oc- 
cupied by negroes. Some historic notes con- 



L- 



l88 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

cerning this old town may be interesting. Its 
hills are natural fortifications, and were used 
as such by the Indians, who there fought 
Captain John Smith in 1608. In 1675 it was for- 
tified, and Major Lawrence Smith there estab- 
lished a little principality. With two com- 
missioners from the non-military inhabitants, 
and six chosen by a majority of the two hun- 
dred and fifty soldiers assigned to the fort, 
Major Smith held a court as if Falmouth were 
a county. The soldiers were free from taxes, 
and from arrest or suit by any outside power 
save Majesty. The garrison regulations were 
severe, and it is remarkable how many of 
them were pious. A blasphemer, "drunk or 
sober," or one who derided the Bible or the 
sacraments, must run the gauntlet of one 
hundred men, and, if wilfully persistent, be 
bored through the tongue with a hot iron. 
After a third conviction for swearing, the of- 
fender must ''ride the wooden horse with a 
musket tyed to each foot, and ask forgiveness 
at the next meeting for prayer or preaching." 
This was also the punishment for drunken- 
ness, and for laziness in any military service. 
Attendance at daily prayer-meeting or preach- 
ing, morning and evening, was compulsory. 
The hand lifted against an officer, ''whether 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 189 

he hitt or misse," was cut off; the talker while 
on march was 'Maid neck and heels" for an 
hour ; and nine offences were punishable with 
death. Major Smith's military princedom, ap- 
parently contrived to protect the Deity rather 
than the frontier settlers, lasted only a year 
or two, but its effects were felt long after. 
Falmouth became noted for prayer and pro- 
fanity, for drunkenness also, and a passion 
for military parades. The old English Church 
— the " Cedar Church" — was abandoned, its 
materials being used for a grain-warehouse on 
the river-side, where it was swept away by a 
freshet. In its place was built a communal 
church, which still stands, where all sects 
worshipped. The drunkenness and profanity 
of Falmouth prevailed among its large number 
of "poor whites" and mulattos, descendants 
probably of Major Smith's two hundred and 
fifty. Such vices were so vulgarized that the 
gentry were comparatively free from them ; 
and the same may be said of Fredericksburg 
and other places. I always listen with skepti- 
cism to anecdotes representing George Wash- 
ington as occasionally indulging in profanity, 
as well as to those that ascribe to him great 
piety. In his early life profanity was regarded 
as a symptom of familiarity with poor whites 



190 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

and negroes; it was ungentlemanly among 
Virginians, though the habit was sometimes 
caught from English officers. 

Falmouth was long a nest of old legends, 
which haunt both sides of the river. On the 
Spottsylvania side Francis Thornton had dwelt 
before the foundation of Fredericksburg, al- 
most a hermit in his loneliness. His ''Punch 
Bowl " is shown, hollowed in the top of a rock ; 
and a hundred years after his time a huge liv- 
ing tortoise was said to have been found bear- 
ing on its shell the carved initials ''F. T." 
Above the town, on the Stafford side, is an 
island where it is said Governor Spotswood 
proposed to realize a Utopia ; until lately the 
dream was represented in a solitary ruin. Two 
brothers of the poet Campbell were merchants 
in Falmouth, and tradition said that ''Lord Ul- 
lin's Daughter" was written beside the falls 
of the Rappahannock. But Thomas Camp- 
bell never visited Virginia, though he longed 
to do so, except in imagination. His brother 
Robert (Mr. Wirt Henry says William) mar- 
ried a daughter of Patrick Henry. 

Besides the Campbells, there was a large 
number of Scotch families who settled in Vir- 
ginia as tobacco-traders, but were ultimately 
the means of doing away with the culture of 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 191 

that staple both on the Potomac and the Rappa- 
hannock. They discovered that more wealth 
could be made by exporting grain. In Fal- 
mouth there is a small house of two rooms, 
called ''Gordon's Corner," associated with a 
''survival" of the canny settlers. Basil Gor- 
don came to the village a penniless lad, and 
bequeathed more than a million to his family. 
He was not miserly, but after he had gained 
wealth, and resided in a fine house, still kept 
up the tiny "store" in which he earned his 
first pennies. It was a joke of some of his 
fashionable neighbors to enter the store, call 
for Mr. Gordon, and ask for a half-pound of 
brown sugar, which the millionaire would 
scrupulously weigh out. This went on to 
the day of his death. 

Although the inhabitants of Falmouth were 
chiefly of Scotch extraction, there were some 
English, Irish, Dutch, and French. There was 
a good deal of superstition among poor whites 
and negroes. The great Hindu myth of Ahi, 
the drought-dragon slain by Indra that the 
waters might be unloosed, migrated to that 
region, where it was well understood by the 
credulous that a snake hung up would bring 
rain. It was also said that however much a 
snake might be bruised, "its tail will not die 
25 



192 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

till sunset"; a variant being that the tail would 
live until it thundered. Among the negroes, 
stories were told of vast conflagrations seen 
by some traveler only half a mile away, to 
which he would hasten only to find a small 
coal of fire. There were various legends of 
mothers coming out of the graveyard to walk 
with their sons, when these were returning 
from some midnight revelry, and admonish 
them. Some distinguished ''conversions" 
were attributed to these maternal revenantes. 
The haunted house was apt to be the sup- 
posed scene of nocturnal orgies, with loud 
laughter and quaffing of bumpers. Unusual 
diseases were sometimes attributed to witch- 
craft. The present writer remembers, less 
than fifty years ago, the last of the ''witches" 
— a poor woman (white) at Falmouth, who 
was so shunned as a witch that she resolved 
to subject herself to the ordeal of water. She 
drowned herself in the Rappahannock, and 
was afterwards remembered as a good-hearted 
creature who had performed many acts of 
kindness to those around her. Ortolans were 
supposed to spring out of frogs at a certain 
time, and all at once to turn into frogs again. 
Iron rings were worn for fits — a sequel in 
Protestant regions to the saintly image worn 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 193 

by peasants in Catholic countries for such 
disorders. In Protestant England a silver coin 
bearing the royal image was used, and possi- 
bly that was sometime the usage in Virginia. 
Such superstitions were generally confined to 
the poor and ignorant ; but an iron ring was 
used at Mount Vernon on Patsy Custis, being 
mentioned in Washington's journal without 
comment. Warts, it was believed, could be 
cured by making them bleed, and then apply- 
ing one or another herb which the herbalist 
might prescribe, such herb to be afterwards 
buried. 

1 avail myself of the miscellaneous charac- 
ter of this chapter to append two curious old 
letters. One is from the famous Colonel 
William Byrd, of Westover, to Landon Car- 
ter, of Sabine Hall, which has, I suspect, some 
hidden meaning — perhaps of a satirical kind. 

"Sir 

"The letter you was so good as to send 
me this morning 1 read with some surprise, 
believing that the Feaver which was lately 
so strong upon you was not quite gone off. 
Nor was I altogether mistaken, it seems, be- 
cause I perceive the Distemper continues, 
only you apply to a new Physician. Now 



194 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

Sir I think it a great Pity, that an honest Gen- 
tleman of so much worth and honour shoud 
be sufferd to languish under this Disorder any 
longer, and therefore 1 shall agree to contrib- 
ute all I can to his Recovery. 1 can foresee 
no more than one Obstruction to a complete 
cure, which is that he hath Three or Four 
Wens growing to his side, which are like to 
draw all the Nourishment from the other 
Parts. However between this and Sunday 
perhaps some method can be thought of, to 
encounter that formidable symptome. 
''I am Sr 
''The most obedient of your servants, 

''W. Byrd. 
''July the 26th, 1742." 

The next letter is from Robert Carter, ot 
Nomony, — Councilor Carter, — who has the 
distinction of being the earliest Swedenbor- 
gian in America, and who liberated his slaves 
during his life because of religious principles. 
It is addressed to Dr. George Steptoe. 

"Nomony Hall 12th July 1771. 
"Sir, 

"Your letter, which you Call an Answer to 
one I wrote to you last Tuesday, Doctr Francks 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 195 

delivered to me— the Doctr waited on you, 
not to precipitate an answer but to know 
whether you had received the letter men- 
tioned above, because letters frequently mis- 
carry. You say it is remote from your 
Intention to violate the laws of any Country 
wherein you Dwell ; that your present En- 
deavours are to prevent the fatal Effects of 
one of the most Malignant diseases ; that it 
is not your Intention to Introduce general 
Inoculation, and that you have taken all pre- 
cautions to prevent the propagation of the 
Small-pox in this Instance. Does the Act of 
the Legislature referred to in my former letter 
tollerate, without Licence, either a partial or 
General Inoculation ? If it does not your pre- 
sent Endeavours, tho' the Inoculation be par- 
tial, be in direct opposition to that Written 
law of the land. It is said that Master George 
Turberville infected his Brother and four Ne- 
gro's who were his most Common playmates ; 
that those were the Only persons who caught 
the Small-pox of Master George ; that you 
procured Matter of Doctor Jonathan, and with 
it have Inoculated about seven Whites, and a 
much greater Number of Blacks. If this report 
be not fabulous it will be insisted that if that 
malignant disease had not been propagated 



196 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

by Inoculation att Hiccory Hill, and due atten- 
tion given to those there who caught it the 
Natural way, that the Suppression thereof 
would have been less Hazardous, than as the 
case now stands — therefore your Conduct 
strengthens the probability of its generallity — 
1 say your Conduct but I mean the Conduct 
of those gentlemen, who procured the Inocu- 
lation of the Small-pox — for I consider you 
as the secondary Only. The present scheme 
of Inoculation is not defensible, and 1 again 
Intreat you to desist therefrom. Whatever 
your apprehensions of me now are or may be 
hereafter, I beg to tell you that my sincere 
Intention is to patronize you, believing you 
possess Quallifications to make your Com- 
pany Destinct in this or any other Commu- 
nity. 

'' I am Sir your most Obedt Servt 

"Robert Carter." 





IX 



The Fit:{ljughs 




HE hereditary dignities of the 
Fitzhughs in England ended in 
the time of Henry VIII., whose 
sixth and last wife, Catharine 
Parr, — reformer and authoress, 
— was granddaughter of the 
last Lord Fitzhugh. They traced back to 
Hugh, Lord of Ravensworth, supposed to be 
of Danish extraction because of his castle's 
name and his crest, the raven, still used by 
the family in Virginia. Two Fitzhughs signed 
the Magna Charta, and one is on the Roll of 
Battle Abbey. In the Wars of the Roses they 

took an active part with Lancaster. Lord 

197 



198 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

Henry Fitzhugh married a sister of Warwick, 
after whose death he was a leader in the re- 
bellion against Edward VI. The last of the 
male line was one of the Catholic bishops of 
London. The family was dispersed. One of 
them became a representative of the East In- 
dia Company in China, and entertained Cap- 
tain Cook at Canton. There are descendants 
of the ancient Fitzhughs in England, but the 
historic career of the family was resumed in 
America, to which William Fitzhugh emi- 
grated in 1670. At Bruton Church, Williams- 
burg, on the tomb of this first settler's grand- 
daughter, Sarah, wife of King's Attorney 
Barradell, are the arms of the Fitzhughs : [az.] 
three chevrons braced in base of escutcheon 
[or] a chief of the last. But William, a second 
son (his elder brother, Henry, was a courtier 
of Charles II.), gained little assistance from 
his escutcheon in the New World, where, 
however, he never forgot his motto, — Pro 
patria semper. He came to Virginia in his 
twentieth year; secured a grant of land in 
Stafford ; married Miss Tucker, of Westmore- 
land, who was (actually) not quite eleven ; 
built him a house which he named after the 
town of his birth, Bedford ; there died at the 
age of fifty (1701); divided among his five 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 1 99 

sons 54,054 acres in Stafford, King George, 
and Essex counties ; in these sons founded a 
race that has spread through America — for it 
is believed that all the Fitzhughs in this coun- 
try are descended from the immigrant William 
and the eleven-year-old wife he married in his 
minority. He was lawyer, planter, shipper, 
statesman. There is interesting information 
concerning him in Miss Rowland's excellent 
biography of George Mason. In the time 
when Virginia was in panic at a rumor that 
the Maryland Catholics meant to bring over 
Indians to destroy the Protestants (1688-9), 
Captain Brent, a Catholic, took refuge in the 
house of his Protestant neighbor, William 
Fitzhugh, who bravely defended him from the 
mob, and protected him five months, mean- 
while expecting to be himself murdered. He 
consumed three quires of paper in writing and 
sending out messages to quiet the panic, which 
was mainly excited by a fanatical noncon- 
formist preacher named Waugh. Possibly the 
gallant William Fitzhugh had in his youth 
witnessed the persecutions of John Bunyan 
in his native Bedford. 

The five sons of this first William Fitzhugh 
married in America and had families. One of 
them, Henry, married a Miss Cooke, of Glou- 
26 



200 r>ARONS OV TUV- VOTOMACK 

cester County, daiKuhtor, it is said, ot one 
of the hundred Fiii^lish uiiis imported soon 
after Bacon s rebellion. This was his second 
son; the eldest. William |:d|. married Ann 
Lee, daui^litei ol councilor Richard lee, ,ind 
resided .it '■ fable's Nest," Kuii^ cU\>ri;e c'cinn- 
ty. These had one son. 1 lenrw who married 
Lucy, daughter ot " Kiiii^' Carter." The last 
named also had i>iil\- one son, the eminent 
publicist, William l'it;tuiL;h | ul ], ol c'h.itham. 
It is generally stated that William of c^.hatham 
was grandson of the tirst settler, but 1 am t'ol- 
lowin^ Ceorue latzhuuh. oi Port Ko)al. for 
some o{ whose papers I am indebted to his 
daughter, Mrs. Champe I'lt/lui^h Tlioiiiton. 
It was the custom ol \ iil;iiiki gentlemen in 
colonial times to build oi puicluise lunises tor 
their si^ns. and t\\ o of the Fit/luii^h mansions 
in SLiUoid, lUMi lacdeiicksbui^, weiesc^ built 
— Boscobel And bel.iu. But Willi. im lat/huuh 
l^d] has alwa\s been credited with building" 
t^iy^^o") his picturesque cli.itham. which is 
now recovering its u.ime. ha\ lug been known 
as ■■ l..ic\''s" while he. idqu. liters of the Arm\' 
of the PotcMu.ick, c"ok>uel Willi. im I'lt/hugh, 
(>f Chath.im, m. lined a R.uidotph; .i d.iughter 
ot these, .Mai\ I ee b^it/hngh. uuirried Mrs. 
George Washiiimon's grandson, C. W. P. 



AND llll' KAI'I'AIIANNOCK 201 

Ciislis, of Arliiii;l()ii, whose (l.-iiit^^Iilcr iii.inicd 
(IciK'i'.il Kohcii l{. I.cc. M.'ijor L.icy, owner 
ol (]li:illi;iili wliile it W.'is Iie;i(l(|ii;iilers ol Hie 
I Jiiioii ;imiy, li.is sl.-iled lli.il lie one d.iy (he- 
loic Hie h.lHle ol I redeiickshlirK) :i|)|)lo;i( lied 
Lee ;iiid poililed lo Hie oHiceis W.'llkili;', .'ihoiil 
Hie •grounds ol ( Ji;iHi;iii]. Me .idvised Hie 
t^enenil to shell Hie pl.Kc, hiil I.ee li;id iiol 
Hie lie.'irl lo destroy ;i m.-iiisioii willi whu li In- 
had such lender associations. Some olliceis 
may owe their lives to this sentiment ol the 
(^onleder.'ite chief, .'iiid to it a Northern jj;vi]- 
tleiii.'in owes his |)ossession ol Hie historic 
mansion. 

(]h;ith;im wnsa stntion tor ;ill distin.i^niished 
travelers between the lower and nj)|)er coun- 
tries; it was never without quests; and when 
the IredericksburK tail's .11 id r.ices occurred 
the terraces were covered with conches. As 
his years ;idv;inced (Colonel Willi.im I'itzhu^h 
h:id to esc;ii)e Irom ;ill this, ;ind p.'issed the rest 
of his life ,'it Rnvenswortli, in l;iirl;ix. I le w.'is 
always ;i devoted Irieiid of Washin^don, ;iiid 
must li.'ive known him ;is;i boy, for the W;ish- 
in^ton tariii .'idjoins (JiatlKim. Ww. follow- 
ing was written to the son of (Colonel Willinm 
l^it/hu<^d) by IMesident Wasliington, June i6, 
1793: 



202 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

''The China Bowl with which your good 
Father was kind enough to present me came 
safe, and I beg you to assure him that I shall 
esteem it more as a memento of his friendship 
than from its antiquity or size. Not before 
the receipt of your letter, dated the 24th of 
last month, had I heard of the death of Mrs. 
Fitzhugh. On this melancholy event I pray 
you both to accept my sincere condolence. I 
also sincerely wish that the evening of his life 
although at present clouded, deprived of one 
of its greatest enjoyments, may be perfectly 
serene and happy : — that you will contribute 
all in your power to make it so I have no 
doubt." 

William Henry Fitzhugh, to whom the 
above note was written, married a Goldsbor- 
ough of Maryland, and died childless. He 
was an only son, and that branch of the fam- 
ily ended with the death of Mrs. [General] 
Robert E. Lee's mother. But the old tree had 
a banyan growth in the Northern Neck, plant- 
ing stems at Eagle's Nest, Marmion, Boscobel, 
Belair, Selwood, Chatham, Ravensworth, and 
several other places. Bishop Meade was one 
fruit of it. The fine intelligence and scholarly 
traditions of the family found a remarkable 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 20} 

representative in the late George Fitzhugh of 
Port Royal, well remembered by the present 
writer as a profound thinker and vigorous 
writer. He fell upon an era of reaction from 
the old anti-slavery principles, and wrote a 
philosophical defence of Southern ''Sociol- 
ogy." In one of his valuable historical papers 
in De Bow's ''Review" he speaks of two 
members of the Fitzhugh family: "These 
two sisters of the name, strange to say, inter- 
married with two distinguished abolitionists 
(and married well), Hon. Gerrit Smith and Mr. 
Birney. This branch of the family is descended 
from the Masons of Gunston, and inherit much 
of their military and adventurous spirit." 

Not so "strange to say," after all ; for Wil- 
liam Fitzhugh of Chatham manumitted by 
will his two hundred slaves, and the injus- 
tice of slavery was a conviction of every Vir- 
ginia gentleman until, some two generations 
ago, President Dew of William and Mary Col- 
lege announced the new "Sociology," which 
captivated the younger generation. A few 
years before the war, George Fitzhugh of Port 
Royal was invited, as the ablest defender of 
the new "Sociology," to expound his views 
in a Northern city. He was hospitably enter- 
tained at New Haven and Hartford, listened 



204 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

to without dispute, and driven about those 
places to witness some results of what had 
been called ''the failure of free society." 
The present writer had a letter from him 
shortly after, expressing his enjoyment of 
this visit, and, though he did not so say, I 
feel certain that his old opinions were some- 
what shaken. 

George, fourth son of the first settler, Wil- 
liam Fitzhugh, married Mary Mason of ''Gun- 
ston," Maryland, the name of which residence 
was repeated in ''Gunston Hall" Virginia, 
home of George Mason the statesman. Their 
son was the famous Colonel William Fitz- 
hugh, of the Cartagena expedition, two of 
whose letters are in the Havemeyer collec- 
tion. ''Colonel William Fitzhugh," writes 
Miss Rowland, "son of George and Mary 
Mason Fitzhugh, married first Mrs. Martha 
Turberville, nee Lee, a daughter of Richard 
Lee and niece of Thomas Lee of 'Stratford.' 
By this marriage he had one son, George Lee 
Mason Fitzhugh. Colonel Fitzhugh married 
secondly Mrs. Ann Rousby, nee Frisby, of 
'Rousby Hall,' Calvert County, Maryland, 
and the children of this marriage were Pere- 
grine, William, and John Fitzhugh. Peregrine 
and William were both officers in the Revo- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 205 

lutionary War, and the former served on 
General Washington's personal staff. " George 
Fitzhugh of Port Royal says this Colonel 
William Fitzhugh surrendered his commission 
in the British army, rather than fight against 
America, and, he believes, ''w^as detained as 
a prisoner during the war." Miss Rowland 
does not mention this, but states that he re- 
signed his commission in June, 1776, and 
served on the Committee of Vigilance of Cal- 
vert County. ''But during his absence from 
home [as a prisoner?] in 1780 and in 1781, 
the enemy landed there ['Rousby Hall'] and 
burned the buildings and furniture, and car- 
ried off forty-two of his slaves." 

The two letters subjoined convey a good 
impression of Colonel Fitzhugh in earlier life, 
and of the loyal spirit of those who were pre- 
sently found struggling against the mother 
country for which they had fought with en- 
thusiasm. Although Colonel William Fitz- 
hugh afterwards resided in Maryland, having 
married the widow Rousby of ' ' Rousby Hall, " 
he previously resided in Westmoreland, and 
his commission as ensign in the Cartagena 
expedition was received from the Council of 
Virginia. Both letters are addressed to Major 
Lawrence Washington. 



206 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

''Westmoreland, May ye 15th, 1747. 
" Dear Sir, 

''Collo Lee informs me that you were so 
kind as to bring some Papers for me to Wil- 
liamsburg, which I'm sorry I happened not 
to be there to receive, and which 1 shall be 
obliged to you for sending me by the first 
good opportunity. The Governour [Gooch] 
has promised to use His Interest in my favour, 
and I'm a little unfortunate in that I have not 
the least acquaintance with The Lord Fairfax, 
whose Letter wou'd do me singular service 
in the affair. I'm doubtfull of success, as I 
believe it will chiefly depend on my personal 
appearance in England, which I can't possibly 
comply with at present. As for the half pay, 
I shou'd be very hapy if there was any other 
way to establish my Rank in the Army, which 
is all 1 want. 

''Yesterday I received a letter from one 
Gilbert, a friend of mine who now commands 
Plimouth Garrison, dated ye 28th of December 
1746, part of which runs thus : ' Most of the 
American oficers have been here. 1 suppose 
you have heard that poor Capt. Bishop was 
miserably butchered by the Rebbels at the 
Battle of Falkirk. Addison now commands 
six additional Companys in this Town.' The 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 207 

account of the destruction of our unfortunate 
friend puts me in mind of what you men- 
tioned to me concerning two of his sons in 
Philadelphia, relating to whom he wrote you. 
1 shall be glad to take one of them, and do 
him any service in my power, as a mark of 
that friendship wth which I allways esteem'd 
his deceas'd Father. So if you incline to take 
the other you may please to give Directions 
for their coming hither, in which expence, if 
any arises, I will readily contribute with you 
to discharge. 

"\ did intend you a visit about the time of 
your return from the Assembly, but the death 
of my son prevented my taking that Pleasure. 
I was in hopes, on hearing of a Diference be- 
tween our friend Collo Colvil and Conway, 
that a Battle wou'd have ensu'd, but the Ga- 
zett informs me the former has cut the latter 
down with his own Weapons. Mrs. Fitz- 
hugh offers her Complts to you and your 
Lady, to whom please to present those of Yr 
Afft and Oblig'd Humble Servt , 

" WiLLM FiTZHUGH." 

It is Plymouth, England, that is alluded to. 
When the Revolution broke out Colonel Fitz- 
hugh was drawing half pay as ''captain " in 

2^ 



208 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

what was still called the Gooch Regiment. 
Colonel Colville was a neighbor of Major 
Lawrence Washington in Fairfax, and there 
was a Conway family there also, one of 
whom was an early Mayor of Alexandria ; 
but the controversy of these men, since 
it was noticed by the ''Virginia Gazette" 
(founded at Williamsburg in 1736), would 
appear to have been of general importance. 
The next letter of Colonel William Fitzhugh 
is as follows : 

"Dear Sir, 

''As you were so kind to promise me the 
Certificates and other Credentials sent over to 
you in Order to receive your Half Pay, I now 
send a Messenger for them. I'm at Mr. Gra- 
ham's and did intend to have waited on you 
but I have been very 111 and am now so weak 
that I find myself Incapable of Performing the 
Journey. I have received letters from England 
that advise ye Establishment of my Half Pay, 
and have received part of it. The rest waits 
for proper Certificates. I have also Advice of 
Capt. Hall's being One of the Unhappy Per- 
sons that was Butchered at Falkirk. Capt. 
Stafford has been sometime in Newgate on 
Suspicion of Treason, but is at last discharged 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 209 

both from Confinement and his Majesty's Ser- 
vice. There is a Report below, of a Grand 
Battle Fought between his Royal Highness 
the Duke and ye French Army, in which the 
latter have lost all their Artilery and 30.000 
Men, and were Intirely routed. This report 
'tis said is Confirmed by Several Private Let- 
ters to York and Other Places. If this be true 
I hope the Monseurs will be Convinc'd that 
One English Duke has^more Interest in Heaven 
and Power on Earth than all the Saints they 
Worship or Pray to for Success. 

' ' I Heartily Congratulate you and your Lady 
on the Birth of your Son, and as I know yi'e 
a man desirous of Increasing the World I wish 
you many more. 

''If you should not be at home when this 
Comes to Hand, as the Messenger can't Wait, 
I shall take it as a Particular favour that you'l 
Hire a Person to bring down those papers. I 
will thankfully pay him whatever you agree 
for. 

' 'Please to make my Compliments accepta- 
ble to your Lady. 

"I am your affecte Humie Servt, 

"WiLLM FiTZHUGH. 

"QuANTico, September 9th, 1747." 



210 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

The ''Mr. Graham" at whose house this 
was written was probably either John or Rich- 
ard, leading men in Dumfries, Virginia, then a 
flourishing place, now represented by ruined 
chimneys and a few cabins. 

The son on whose birth Major Lawrence 
Washington is congratulated was Fairfax 
Washington, born August 22, 1747, died in 
October of the same year. 

In 1754 Governor Sharpe of Maryland, 
having received the King's commission as 
commander of forces against the French, ap- 
pointed Col. Fitzhugh to command of the 
army. Col. Fitzhugh at once made an effort 
to persuade Col. George Washington back 
into the service from which he had retired 
with dissatisfaction. (Sparks, ii, p. 64.) In 
this he was unsuccessful. Toward the close 
of his life, Col. Fitzhugh established at Mill- 
mount, a farm contiguous to Rousby Hall, 
a manufactory of ship-bread for vessels trad- 
ing in the Chesapeake. 




X 



A Lord and a Lad at Belvoir 




MONG some old Carter manu- 
scripts my eye was caught by 
one bearing the now historic 
name of ^' Bull Run." It is a 
deed, dated October 12, 1724, 
opening with the following 
words : 'The Right Honbie Thomas Lord Fair- 
fax of Leeds Castle in the County of Kent and 
Baron Cameron in Scotland and William Cage 
of Millsgate in the Parish of Bearstead in the 
said County of Kent Esqr Devisee in Trust and 
Sole Execur of the last will and testament of 
the Right Honbie Catharine Lady Fairfax de- 



212 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

ceased ppr of the Northern Neck of Virginia, 
To ALL TO Whom this present writing shall 
come send Greeting : Know ye That for divers 
good causes and considerations but more es- 
pecialy for and in consideration of the com- 
position for our use paid unto our Agent and 
attorney and for the annual rent hereafter 
reserved We have given granted and con- 
firmed and by these presents for us our heirs 
and assigns do give grant and confirm unto 
Robert Carter Gentn Son of Robert Carter 
Esqr of Lancr County one Certain Tract or 
parcel of land scituate lying and being in Staf- 
ford County Containing six thousand and 
thirty acres on a branch of Occaquan called 
Bull Run, etc." For this, Robert Carter, Jr., 
is to pay his Lordship's ''composition," ten 
shillings for each fifty acres, and thereafter 
one shilling annually on each fifty. 

Out of his six million acres obtained by the 
marriage of his mother with Lord Culpeper, 
Lord Fairfax might well have bestowed six 
thousand acres gratis, or on easier rent, to 
identify the interests of the Carter family with 
his own. But the above were his usual terms. 
His official connection with the Carters ended 
in 1732, when ''King Carter" died, and Lord 
Fairfax sent from England an agent named 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 21} 

Benjamin Borden. On arriving: in Virginia, 
Borden recognized an opportunity of becom- 
ing a sort of Lord Fairfax himself. Governor 
Gooch was then dispensing the Valley lands 
so freely and indiscriminately that one Jacob 
Stover, it is said, secured many acres by giving 
his cattle human names, as settlers; and a 
young woman, by dressing in various dis- 
guises of masculine attire, obtamed several 
large farms. Borden hastened to that region, 
captured a buffalo calf, carried it to Williams- 
burg as a present to the governor, and so won 
the favor of good Mr. Gooch that he acquired 
a vast tract. Lord Fairfax, finding his interests 
in Virginia neglected, applied to his cousin, 
William Fairfax, who settled in Virginia as 
his agent in 1734. 

The Hon. Col. William Fairfax was a first 
cousin of Lord Fairfax, his father being Henry, 
younger brother of his Lordship's father. 
Henry Fairfax married Anne Harrison, of South 
Cave, Yorkshire, whose sister Eleanor married 
Henry Washington. Whether his uncle Henry 
was related in any way to the Washingtons 
of Virginia is not known, but William Fairfax 
may have known more of the matter than is 
now discoverable. At any rate, he fixed his 
abode, as we have seen, near that of the Wash- 



214 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

ingtons, and the intimacy of the two families 
was that of relationship. William Fairfax had 
long been in Government service. He had 
been a soldier in Queen Anne's wars, Chief Jus- 
tice in the Bahamas, Governor of the Isle of 
Providence, and Collector of the Port of Salem, 
Massachusetts. His first wife was Sarah Wal- 
ker ; by her he had four children — George 
William, Thomas, Anne (married Lawrence 
Washington), Sarah (married Major John Car- 
lyle of Alexandria). His wife died in 1731, 
expressing on her death-bed the hope that 
her husband might marry her friend Deborah 
Clarke. The hope was fulfilled. By this sec- 
ond wife William Fairfax had three children — 
Bryan (who became eighth Lord) ; William 
Henry, a soldier, who fell at Quebec, 1759; 
Hannah (married Warner Washington, first 
cousin of the general). 

William Fairfax thus brought to Virginia a 
large family, and at the head of it was a woman 
whom tradition declares to have possessed ex- 
traordinary intelligence and character. Debo- 
rah Clarke was daughter of the Hon. Col. 
Bartholomew Gedney, of Salem, Massachu- 
setts. She married Francis Clarke, October 
16, 1 701, and became a widow in 1727. The 
portrait which, by favor of the Essex Institute, 




DEBORAH CLARKE. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 21 5 

Salem, is presented in this volume, was un- 
doubtedly painted by John Smibert of Edin- 
burgh. It represents her in widow's dress, 
and was probably painted soon after Smibert's 
arrival (1728) in Boston. The countenance is 
at once powerful and refined ; it can hardly 
fail to impress one with a feeling that the in- 
fluence of Deborah Fairfax may have been of 
importance in forming the character of George 
Washington, so much of whose boyhood was 
passed under her roof. She died, as shown 
by one of our letters, in 1747. 

Lord Fairfax (according to Sir Bernard 
Burke), ''visiting his American estates about 
the year 1739, was so captivated with the soil, 
climate, and beauties of Virginia that he re- 
solved to spend the remainder of his life there ; 
and he soon after erected two mansions, Bel- 
voir and Greenway, where he continued ever 
afterwards to reside in a state of baronial hos- 
pitality. " But according to tradition, probably 
correct, Belvoir was built by William Fairfax 
between 1734 and 1736. it was destroyed by 
an accidental fire during the Revolution, and 
unfortunately no picture of it can be found. 
Its architectural character may be gathered 
from an advertisement in the Ga;(ette of Phila- 
delphia, October 19, 1774: 
28 



2l6 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

''To be rented from year to year, or for a 
term of years, Belvoir, the beautiful seat of 
the Honorable George W. Fairfax, Esq., upon 
the Potomac river, in Fairfax County, about 
14 miles below Alexandria. The mansion is 
of brick, two storeys high, with four conve- 
nient rooms and a large passage on the lower 
floor ; five rooms and a large passage on the 
second ; servants' hall and cellar below. Con- 
venient to it are offices, stables, and coach- 
house ; adjacent is a large and well-furnished 
garden stored with a great variety of fruits, 
all in good order. Appertaining to the tract 
on which these houses stand and which con- 
tains near 2000 acres (surrounded in a man- 
ner by navigable water) are several valu- 
able fisheries and a good deal of clear land 
in different parts which may be let all to- 
gether or separately as shall be found most 
convenient. 

''The terms may be known of Colonel 
Washington who lives near the premises, or 
of me in Berkeley County.— Francis Willis, 
Junior." 

I have from a descendant of the Fairfax 
family, now residing in Virginia, a copy of the 
list of articles sold at the auction held at Bel- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 



217 



voir August 15, 1774, and the prices brought. 
This I conclude to copy literally. 



DINING ROOM. 

I Mahogany yft. sideboard Table 

I Pr. Mahogany square card Tables 

I Oval Bottle Cistern on a Frame . 

I Knife Tray ....... 

1 Schollopt Mahogany Voider 

2 Dish Trays ® 1 6/ 

I Large Mahogany Cut rim Tea Tray 

I Sconce Glass gilt in Burnished Gold 

12 Mahogany Chairs 

12 Covers for ditto © 2/6 .... 

3 Crimson Morine Drapery window curtains 
I Large Wilton Persian Carpet . . 
I Pr Tongs, Shovel, Dogs and Fender 



£ 


s.d. 


5 


b 


b 


5 


2 


17 





6 





14 


I 


12 


I 


10 


15 





17 





I 


10 


II 


b 


9 


15 


3 


10 



PARLOR. 

I Mahogany Table (dining) one glass to 

take off 3150 

I Mahogany Spider leg Table ..... 250 

1 folding fire skreen lined with yellow . . i i o 

2 Mahogany Arm Chairs cov'd with figured 

hair 550 

1 Chimney Glass 1000 

Dogs, Tongs, Shovel and Fender . . • 2 14 6 

2 Saxon green plain Drapery curtains . . 500 



2l8 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

MRS. FAIRFAX'S CHAMBER. 

I Mahogany Chest of Drawers .... 8 lo o 

I Bedstead and Curtains ...... 800 

Window Curtains i 15 o 

4 Chairs ©15/6 320 

Covers for Do © 2/ 080 

Dressing Table 1000 

I pr. Dogs, Shovel and Tongs .... i 13 o 

COL. FAIRFAX'S D-G ROOM. 

I Oval Glass in Burnished Gold .... 5 

I Mahogany Shaving Table 3 

I Mahogany Desk, &c 16 

4 Chairs and Covers © 22I 4 

I Mahogany Settee Bedstead Saxon green • 7 

Covers for Ditto o 

I Mahogany Pembroke Table i 

Dogs, Shovel, Tongs and Fender ... i 

UTENSILS &c. 

I Case and i dozen bottles ...... i 16 o 

1 pr Garden Shears, i snuffer stand, bales, 

Brushes 013 

2 Flint Decanters 2/ an old pine desk . . o 18 6 
A large pot, a lanthorn 6/ lot of Queen's 

china i 16 o 

9 Knives and 10 Forks 10/, i pr Endirons 5/ o 17 o 
I pr Scales & 3 weights 10/, 2 pr. Stilyards 

12/ . 120 



10 





3 





16 





8 





18 





9 





18 





13 






AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 219 

2 Brass Candlesticks 9/, 2 Copper Stew- 

pans 6/6 0150 

I Copper Fish kettle 1 8/, 4 do stewpans and 

covers i 14 o 

3 Saucepans 5/, 4 do kettles 10/ . . . . o 15 o 

1 Tea kettle, 2 Cannisters and oven 1 5/, Pes- 

tel & mortar 12/6 176 

23 [?] and 9 qt Bottles ....... 076 

2 Old Flour Searchers 076 

I hand mill 30/, i 80 gal. Copper kettle . 350 

I large iron pot 20/, i Bread Toaster 1/3 • i 13 

The books have no prices attached. They 
are: Batavia Illustrated; London Magazine 
(7 vols.) ; Parkinson's Herball ; Knolles' His- 
tory of the Turkish Empire; Coke's Institutes 
of the Laws of England (3 vols.) ; England's 
Recovery ; Laws of the Colony of Massachu- 
setts Bay ; Lex Mercatoria, or Laws of Mer- 
chants; Laws of Virginia ; Compleat Clerk and 
Conveyancer; Hawkins, Pleas of the Crown 
Gunnall, Offences in the Realm of England 
Ainsworth, Latin and English Dictionary 
Haine's Dictionary of Arts and Sciences 
Blackmore's Prince Arthur; History of the 
Twelve Cassars, by Suetonius ; John Calvin's 
Institutions of Religion ; Fuller's Church His- 
tory from its Rise; Locke on the Human 
Understanding; A New BodyofGeographie; 



220 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Croope's Reports ; Heylin's Cosmographie in 
4 Books ; Collection of Voyages and Travels ; 
Political Discourses, by Henry Earl of Mon- 
mouth ; Wooten's State of Christendom ; 
Hobart's Reports; Johnson's Excellency of 
Monarchical Government; Latin and French 
Dictionary ; Langley's Pomona, or Gardening ; 
Obreneter, a Political Piece ; Strada's History 
of the Low Country Wars ; Spanish and Eng- 
lish Dictionary; Latin Bible; A Poem on 
Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell; Knox's 
Martyrologie ; Jacob's Law Dictionary ; Cham- 
berlyn's State of G. Britain ; Hughes, Natural 
History of Barbadoes ; Laws of His Majesty's 
Plantations ; The Way to get Wealth. 

One or two of these, it will be observed, 
were published in the later colonial period. 
Probably the books were not sold, for some 
later hand has added to the list a work of 1 777, 
with the full title-page and dedication: "A 
Compendious View of the Civil Law ; being 
the substance of a Course of Lectures read in 
the University of Dublin, by Arthur Browne, 
Esquire, S. P. T. C. D. , Professor of Civil Law in 
that University, and Representative in Parlia- 
ment for the same. 1777. Inscription: To 
His Excellency Gen. Washington, with the 
utmost respect, this Book is humbly presented 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 221 

by the Author, once an American, who knew 
in America his earliest ^nd his happiest days.'' 

The sale brought about ^242, Washing- 
ton's purchases, which included no books, 
amounting to ^169. 

Such then was Belvoir and its contents. The 
Hon. Colonel William Fairfax found his Lord- 
ship's affairs in such a condition as to require 
all of his administrative ability and personal 
tact. The immense territorial claim of Lord 
Fairfax, dating from a time (Charles 11.) when 
much of the land had not been discovered, 
confirmed to Lord Culpeper by the discredited 
James 11., was disputed on every hand. It 
was not fully acknowledged by the Crown, 
which wished to earn rents by new grants; 
its northern boundary was disputed by the 
Maryland proprietary, its eastern and southern 
by many settlers. On the Maryland side the 
question was which of the two head-streams 
of the Potomack was intended to be the nor- 
thern boundary of Lord Culpeper's purchase, 
or Fairfaxland. In Virginia the dispute was 
concerning the grants of settlers east of the 
Alleghanies, and also as to which of the two 
head-streams of the Rappahannock was the 
Fairfax limit — the Conway (confluent of the 
Rapidan) or the Rappahannock, between these 



222 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

being all the land now comprised by Cul- 
peper, Madison, and Rappahannock counties. 
William Fairfax first appears in his Lordship's 
affairs in 1733-4. On a petition of Lord Fair- 
fax, the King appointed a " Commission for 
running out and marking the limits of his 
Patent." The three commissioners for the 
Crown were Colonel William Byrd of West- 
over, John Robinson, and John Grymes. Lord 
Fairfax appointed William Fairfax, William 
Beverley, and Charles Carter. Colonel Byrd 
has left a narrative of their survey, which began 
at Fredericksburg, October 12, 1736, and ended 
December 14. In pursuance of their report, 
Lord Fairfax gave warning to Joist Hite and 
his partners that they must purchase or vacate 
140,000 acres for which they held warrants. 
A lawsuit began in 1736, which was settled 
in favor of the Hites, 1786, when all of the 
original parties were dead. 

The Hite-Fairfax lawsuit, and the general 
struggle of the settlers in Fairfaxland with his 
Lordship, deserve a consideration not yet 
given to them by historians. Here was a 
tremendous and continuous training in hatred 
of aristocracy. The accident of birth had 
thrown into the hand of one Englishman six 
millions of acres in a country he never saw, 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 22} 

and made fiefs of a thousand estates tilled 
by Virginians, while he was hunting foxes 
around his castle in England, — that same 
''Leeds Castle" after which the ''Manor of 
Leeds " was named in Culpeper. Although 
Lord Culpeper had purchased the proprietary 
title of the Northern Neck (1683), the right to 
sell it represented an arbitrary claim of Charles 
II. to give away Virginia to hispersonal friends ; 
and the abdicated James II. was also associated 
with it. Since 1692 there had been a lawful 
resistance in Virginia to this establishment in 
the colony of a despotic realm, whose agent 
was angrily nicknamed ' ' King Carter. " This 
label was the first cry against royalty. By 
the great wealth and influence of "King Car- 
ter," and by the intermarriages of his family 
with other powerful families, the Fairfax realm 
was maintained, but it is doubtful whether it x j 
could have continued but for the support of 
William Fairfax, who was Collector of South 
Potomack ; and equally, perhaps, the alli- 
ances of his family with the Washingtons, 
Carys, and Carlyles. Above all, probably, the 
marriage of Anne Fairfax with Lawrence 
Vv^ashington, allying the powerful Whiting 
and Butler families, and the later marriage 
of Hannah Fairfax with Warner Washington, 
29 

^dyn-"-^' ytd5> n^iyr^ ^t-ei/^a^ \r^fJ^ C^-f-^J^-fQ «. <a.- '♦.v.-G' 



224 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

bringing in the Warners and Lewises, added 
strength to his lordship's principality, while 
the swarming immigrant democracy of West- 
ern Virginia was regarding it as a transfer to 
Virginia of a dynasty discredited and over- 
thrown in England. 

What a strange motley West there was in 
the colony it would require a volume to por- 
tray. I cannot go into that, but by way of 
episode introduce two little illustrations of 
the Western Virginia of that time. The first 
is a petition signed by the leading men of the 
region, ignored and ignorant. It is dated July 
30, 1742. 

''To the Honorable, William Gooch Esqr His 

Majesty's Lieut: Governor &c. &c. 
"Sr 

''We your pittionours humbly sheweth that 
we your Honours Loly and Dutifull Sub- 
ganckes [subjects] hath ventred our Lives & 
all that we have in settling ye back parts 
of Virginia which was a veri Great Hassirt 
[hazard] & Dengrous, for it is the Hathins 
[heathens] Road to ware [war], which has 
proved hortfull to severil of ous that were ye 
first settlers of these back woods & wee your 
Hombile pittionors some time a goo pittioned 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 225 

your Honnourfortohave Commissioned men 
amungst ous which we your Honnours m«st 
Duttifull subjects thought properist men & 
men that had Hart & Curidg to hed us y" 
time of [war] & to defend your Contray and 
your poor Sobgacks Intrist from ye voilince 
of ye Haithen — But yet agine we Humbly 
persume to poot your Honnour yn mind of 
our Great want of them in hopes that your 
Honner will grant a Captins' Commission to 
John McDowell, with follring ofishers, and 
your Honnours' Complyence in this will be 
great settisfiction to your most Duttifull and 
Humbil pittioners — and we as in Duty bond 
shall Ever pray." 

McDowell was appointed, but killed in the 
December following. His descendants are 
leading people in the Valley to this day. Our 
second glimpse of that region is quoted from 
the journal of Dr. Thomas Walker, kept dur- 
ing his western exploration in 1750, as printed 
by the late William C. Rives. 

"March 16. We kept up the Staunton to 
William Englishes [in what is now Montgom- 
ery County]. He lives on a small Branch, 



226 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

and was not much hurt by the Fresh. He 
has a mill, which is the furthest back except 
one lately built by the Sect of People who 
call themselves of the Brotherhood of Eu- 
phrates, and are commonly called the Dun- 
cards, who are the upper Inhabitants on the 
New River, which is about 400 yards wide at 
this place. They live on the west side, and 
we were obliged to swim our Horses over. 
The Duncards are an odd set of people, who 
make it a matter of Religion not to Shave 
their Beards, ly on Beds, or eat Flesh, though 
at present, in the last, they transgress, being 
constrained to it, as they say, by the want of 
a sufficiency of Grain and Roots, they hav- 
ing not long been seated here. I doubt the 
plenty and deliciousness of the Venison and 
Turkeys has contributed not a little to this. 
The unmarried have no private Property, but 
live on a common Stock. They dont baptize 
either Young or Old, they keep their Sabbath 
on Saturday, and hold that all men shall be 
happy hereafter, but first must pass through 
punishment according to their Sins. They 
are very hospitable." 

English lordship meant very little to these 
tribes of the western valleys and hills. Lord 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 227 

Fairfax had been wiser to concede a wide 
margin between them and his domain. As the 
Shenandoah and the Potomack, with united 
force, break through the mountains at Har- 
per's Ferry, so did the Barons of the Potomack 
and the transmontane Democracy together 
break through the boundaries of Fairfaxland, 
and through the foreign power that had es- 
tablished it. When in 1785 the Virginia legis- 
lature enacted "that the landholders within 
the said district of the Northern Neck shall be 
forever hereafter exonerated and discharged 
from composition and quitrents, any law, 
custom or usage, to the contrary notwith- 
standing," it was the consummation of a 
ninety-years' vague struggle between democ- 
racy and aristocracy. And during the greater 
part of that time the Washingtons had been 
in close relations with aristocracy. 

Looking back on the pre-revolutionary era, 
we can now see that the conflicting forces 
were chiefly represented by two families which 
had been preeminently involved in the cor- 
responding struggle in England, — the Fair- 
faxes and the Washingtons. And of these 
families two figures stand out above all others 
in the light of history — George Washington 
and Lord Fairfax. When Lord Fairfax first 






228 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

visited Virginia, George Washington was a 
child of seven years. It may have been among 
his earliest recollections to have seen the 
nobleman passing his father's house on his 
way to Belvoir. This live lord, owner of all 
the land, must have appeared to the child the 
greatest man in the world. But in the sum- 
mer of 1746, when Lord Fairfax again came 
from England, and this time to make his 
home in Virginia, George Washington was old 
enough to be reckoned with. In July Mr. 
Marye's school in Fredericksburg was dis- 
missed for vacation, and his hard-working 
pupil, George Washington, sped to enjoy his 
holiday at Mount Vernon and Belvoir, homes 
in sight of each other, in both of which he 
was always welcome. At the time of Lord 
Fairfax's arrival George was a special subject 
of discussion in both houses ; for his brother 
Lawrence had just obtained for him a mid- 
shipman's commission, and they were all try- 
ing to overcome his mother's objection to its 
acceptance. According to a credible tradition, 
Lord Fairfax at once took a fancy to the boy. 
The old bachelor of fifty-seven was literary, 
philosophical, shrewd, and could hardly fail 
to be interested in this studious lad of four- 
teen, who had written out so carefully the old 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 229 

French "Rules of Civility and Decent Be- 
haviour," and steadily practised them. 

Lord Fairfax was a scholar and essayist, and 
well acquainted, we may feel sure, with all 
salient facts in the history of the family 
whose twenty-first traceable generation was 
represented by himself, the sixth lord. He 
could hardly fail to remember that he was 
meeting as affectionate connections a family 
which his own had confronted in war a hun- 
dred years before. For that year 1746 was 
the centenary of the famous siege of Worces- 
ter, in which that city had been defended 
by its governor, Colonel Henry Washington, 
against the great General Fairfax. We can 
imagine the old lord sitting on the veranda 
with George, telling him the story of how Sir 
Henry held out even after the King was a 
captive and the royal cause lost. He might 
even show him the letter which General Fair- 
fax received in reply to his demand for the 
surrender of Worcester, invested with five 
thousand troops : 

''To General Fairfax. Sir: It is acknow- 
ledged by your books, and by report of your 
own quarter, that the King is in some of your 
armies. That granted, it may be easy for you 



230 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

to procure His Majesty's commands for the 
disposal of this garrison. Till then I shall 
make good the trust reposed in me. As for 
conditions, if 1 shall be necessitated I shall 
make the best 1 can. The worst 1 know and 
fear not ; if 1 had, the profession of a soldier 
had not been begun nor so long continued by 
your Excellency's humble servant, 

''Henry Washington." 

He may even have selected the day of ca- 
pitulation (July 19) to tell George that it had 
to be secured by bringing an order direct from 
the captive King, and he would not forget the 
honorable terms accorded by General Fairfax 
to the fortitude and loyal devotion of Sir 
Henry Washington. 

There was one episode of the English strug- 
gle which, had it been included in the cente- 
nary story, might have brought the history 
nearer home to his lordship's young listener. 
In the year that General Fairfax joined Crom- 
well, the Rev. Lawrence Washington was 
evicted for loyalty to his king, his family pau- 
perized, his two sons presently driven to re- 
pair their broken fortunes in Virginia. The 
evicted rector's name had descended to the 
lad's beloved brother, master of Mount Ver- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 2} I 

non, husband of a Fairfax, as loyal a soldier 
of George II. as Sir Henry Washington, ne- 
phew of his great-great-grandfather, was of 
Charles I. 

So, on Belvoir veranda, may have sat the 
sixth Lord Fairfax, amid his six million acres, 
and the boy whose highest ambition was to 
serve their common king. Little did either 
dream that in them the relative positions of 
Sir Henry Washington and Sir Thomas Fair- 
fax at Worcester were to be reversed, and 
the Crown maintained by his lordship to sur- 
render under the siege of George Washing- 
ton. Behind an impenetrable veil waited the 
strange hour when his lordship's estates 
should be saved from confiscation mainly by 
the influence of him now sitting at his feet. 
Yet during all that hundred years, since a Fair- 
fax and a Washington confronted each other 
at Worcester, the evolutionary forces that 
precede revolutionary changes had worked 
on these two families. On the morrow of 
King Charles's death General Fairfax, recoil- 
ing from regicide, entered his retreat, and 
from it emerged only to bear Charles II. to 
his throne. On the other hand, Colonel John 
Washington, who left the commonwealth for 
loyal Virginia, was presently in collision with 
30 



232 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

the King's governor. Thenceforth the Wash- 
ingtons and the Fairfaxes were borne on in 
their several currents of eventuality, — cur- 
rents that flood and float hereditary senti- 
ments. There is a tradition that when the 
first gun of the American Revolution was re- 
ported at the house of Lord Fairfax, Greenway 
Court, George Washington was dining there. 
The two friends parted with emotion, know- 
ing that above their affection a demon of dis- 
cord must prevail. But had they been then 
suddenly transferred to some distant island, 
with no past at their back, the titled repre- 
sentative of prerogative might have proved 
the radical, and our republican chief the con- 
servative. 

But let us return to the old lord and his 
young acquaintance on the veranda. They 
had not met by accident. The Fate softly 
weaving between them the destinies of the 
western world had begun her work in the 
Old World, and perhaps at an earlier period 
than the marriage, fifty years before, of two 
pretty sisters, Anne and Eleanor Harrison, the 
former to a Fairfax, the latter to a Washington. 
Those remote love-affairs in Yorkshire brought 
Lord Fairfax and George Washington together 
in Virginia, but thenceforth the interweaving 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 2}} 

proceeded with stronger threads. Fairfax, 
having no son of his own, was attracted by 
the boy, who had an enthusiasm for litera- 
ture, and a literary ability— now represented 
in writings which in the future will make 
George Washington's highest reputation. The 
boy read hungrily every book he could get 
hold of, and experimented in poetry. He had 
gone through many experiences, was well 
acquainted with men and things on the lower 
parts of his lordship's estate. Kindly inquir- 
ies could get from him much that it concerned 
this newly arrived potentate to know. And 
if the great Fairfax told the youth old stories 
of the Washingtons and Fairfaxes in England, 
his listener could tell him brave ones from the 
annals of his own unexplored principality in 
Virginia. Traditions were vivid, printed as if 
in colors in every boy's mind, of Bacon's re- 
bellion, of the Catholic Colonel Brent's flight 
from Maryland and refuge with Colonel Mason 
in Stafford, of Parson Waugh's fulminations 
against the Papists, of the advent of the Hu- 
guenots to James River, of Germans to the 
Rappahannock, and of all the romantic ad- 
ventures of Spotswood. 

Such might be the vistas opening towards 
the Past, for the nobleman and the boy seated 



234 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

on Belvoir veranda. But what of visions in 
the future? Lord Fairfax was about to take 
fornial possession of the long-disputed boun- 
daries of his great inheritance ; he foresaw 
cities springing up on it, he contemplated for 
himself a literary retreat, and associated with 
it his young friend. As for George Washing- 
ton, his longings would probably have been 
satisfied by such conditions as those portrayed 
in the poem on "True Happiness." printed on 
a previous page. Often, when tilling exalted 
public positions, are heard his sighs for a 
quiet life at home. 

How little do the makers of history know 
of the forces surrounding them, or of the 
future they are founding ! The English lord 
and the Virginia boy, seated on Belvoir ve- 
randa, gazing on the Potomack, are now visi- 
ble as the evening star of an old, and the 
mornino' star of a new, horizon. 







>Mfe^\' 



^•^ 



i''^ ^A^r c-^^.^'^'' 



XI 



Tbe Fairfax Stone 




HREE of our original letters re- 
late to the expedition which 
laid the Fairfax Stone at the 
head-spring of the Potomack. 
In 1745 the Crown affirmed the 
inheritance of Lord Fairfax to 
be the entire Northern Neck, its western 
boundary a line from the head-spring of the 
Conway River (confluent of the Rapidan) to 
the head-spring of the northern branch of the 
Potomack. In 1746, when Lord Fairfax ar- 
rived at Belvoir, an expedition of forty gentle- 
men was prepared to define the boundary and 
take formal possession. His lordship's agent, 



236 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

William Fairfax, accompanied the party, whose 
military leaders — for they expected to en- 
counter Indians — were Captain Downes and 
Colonel Joshua Fry. Downes was a leading 
man in Orange County, whose Grand Jury 
once presented him " for Sabbath-breaking by 
travelling with loaded horses to Sharrendo." 
Colonel Fry, a mathematical professor turned 
soldier, was the commander whose death, in 
1754, while on the French expedition, gave 
his young friend George Washington his first 
command. The surveyors of the expedition 
)c were Thomas Lewis of Augusta County, and 
Robert Brooke, their assistant being George 
Fairfax. Brooke had been on the Spotswood 
exploration of 1 7 1 6 ; he was grandfather of the 
famous Governor Brooke. Captain Downes 
had the management of the tents, and ar- 
ranged a camp near Orange Court-house as 
the rendezvous of the company. Our first 
letter is from William Fairfax to Major Law- 
rence Washington, at Mount Vernon, who did 
not accompany the expedition. 

''Fredericksburg, Sept. 9, 1746. 
"Sir, 

"We got here on Sunday evening, and all 
yesterday with some impatience waited the 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 237 

arrival of Colo Beverley and Colo Lomax. At 
night a negro man of Colo Lomax came to 
Mr. Jackson's with some baggage, and said 
his master and Colo Beverley were ready to 
set off when he came away. Colo Lewis, 
Mrs. Lewis, and Mr. William Lightfoot came 
yesterday, and bring account that your uncle, 
the Major, died yesterday sennight after a 
short illness. We are also told, with too 
great certainty, that Mr. Archibald Taylor of 
Norfolk lately drowned himself by voluntarily 
leaping into the creek at the Capitol Landing, 
rising suddenly from his bed at Mr. Nimmo's, 
who had a little before as they travelled saved 
him from another leap he had made into a 
Mill Dam, when he prepared and put a Brick- 
bat into each of his Pockets, the better to 
sink him, with one of which he violently 
struck Mr. Nimmo on the Forehead for sav- 
ing him against his will. 

"September 10. Yesterday to our great 
satisfaction Col. Beverley and Col. Lomax 
came, and we are preparing to set off for 
Capt. Downe's this morning. I propose to 
make an essay and proceed as 1 find myself 
able, but run no Risque, and on the most 
probable Sensation of unfitness to Return. 
The weather is so sultry, and being neces- 



238 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

sarily obliged to go about this town to collect 
several things wanted, I have not yet seen 
Mrs. Washington. George has been with us, 
^ and says He wHl _be steady and thankfully 
follow your Advice as his best Friend. I gave 
him his Mother's letter to deliver with Cau- 
tion not to shew his. I have spoke to Dr. 
Spencer who I find is often at the Widow's 
and has some influence, to persuade Her to 
think better of your advice in putting Him to 
Sea with good Recommendation. 

'' By some mistake in the enquiry for them 
we have not got the Rundletts your Bro. 
made. I again repeat my Desires that you 
will continue your kind advice and assistance 
to Mrs. Fairfax, etc. etc., and visit as often as 
Leisure with Inclination will permit. I am 
always, dear Sir, 

''Your truly affectionate Parent 
''and faithful Friend, 

"W. Fairfax." 

The next letter is from Robert Jackson, a 
citizen of Fredericksburg, and intimate friend 
of the Washington and Lewis families there 
— a godfather with George Washington of 
Betty (Washington) Lewis's first child. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 239 

''Fredericksburg, i8 ybre 1746. 
''Maj: Washington, 

''Sir: You will receive with this a letter 
from ye Honbie Wm. Fairfax which he deliv- 
ered me at ye camp at Henry Downes's the 
1 6th instant where ye Comlssrs were met, 
viz. Cols Fairfax, Beverly, Lomax, Fry, and 
Major Hedgman and Mr. George Fairfax, to- 
gether with their surveyors, aid du Camps, 
valet de Chambres, and a numerous train of 
Cavalry and Infantry, making all necessary 
preparations for a march, and this day or to- 
morrow expect they will decamp. They were 
all in top spirits, and Colo Fairfax in particular 
as cheerful as ever I saw him. 

"They pressed me to stay a little longer 
with them, and must confess it was with re- 
luctance that I left them, and Major Hedgman 
swore I should share the reward equally with 
him if I would go out. 

''I stayed two nights with them where we 
regaled ourselves with good liquor in your 
tent seated after the manner of the Eastern 
Nations on Sophas of party collour'd Bristol 
rugs, etc. 

" I am afraid Mrs. Washington will not keep 
up to her first resolution. She seems to inti- 
mate a dislike to George's going to Sea and 

3' 



240 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

says several Persons have told her its a very 
bad Scheme. 

'' She offers several trifling objections such 
as fond and unthinking mothers naturally sug- 
gest, and 1 find that one word against his go- 
ing has more w^eight than ten for it. Colo 
Fairfax seems desirous he should go, and 
desired me to acquaint you with Mrs. Wash- 
ington's sentiments. I intend shortly to take 
an opportunity to talk with her and will let 
you know her result. 1 am, Sir, 
''Yr most Hble Servt 

" Rob. Jackson." 

The names mentioned in these letters were 
those of great families, and nearly all of them 
are honorably inscribed in the history of their 
country. William Beverley, son of the his- 
torian, was a famous lawyer and county lieu- 
tenant of Essex. He was a member of the 
Council, and had at his house, ''Blandfield," 
on the Rappahannock, now occupied by his 
descendant, one of the best libraries in Vir- 
ginia. Lunsford Lomax, Burgess for Caroline, 
a commissioner at the Indian treaty of Logs- 
town, was the founder of the family at Fred- 
ericksburg long represented by Judge Lomax, 
who, when feeble with age and illness, was 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 241 

carried to the polls that he might vote against 
secession. William Lightfoot, descended from 
John Lightfoot, a Jamestown colonist, was 
soon after a member of the Council. Major 
Peter Hedgman was a justice of Stafford, and 
a few years later one of those who resigned 
office rather than carry out the Stamp Act. 
The Colonel Lewis mentioned was Warner 
Lewis of Warner Hall, Burgess, who married 
the widow Gooch. Coming up from Glou- 
cester, they could bring tidings of the death of 
Major John Washington, last of that genera- 
tion of Washingtons, the time of whose death 
is ascertained by the above letter. Warner's fa- 
ther, John, had died November, 1745, aged 76. 
To Thomas Lewis, surveyor of Augusta 
County, one of the leading men on the ex- 
pedition (which started out from Fredericks- 
burg September 18, 1746), we are indebted for 
the subjoined notes concerning it. His jour- 
nal, in possession of the Hon. John F. Lewis 
(formerly Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia), 
has never been published, though some ex- 
tracts were given in a supplement to a portion 
of an edition of Waddell's ''Annals of Au- 
gusta County." For these I am indebted to 
Mr. Brock, of the Virginia Historical Society. 
The camp was visited by ''a great number 



242 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

of the neighboring gentlemen." On Sunday, 
September 14, the Fredericksburg party not 
having arrived, ''most of the gentlemen went 
to hear Mr. Marshall preach, who returned 
with them to dinner. Several of us solicited 
him to preach us a sermon before we set off. 
He after making several religious evasions 
showed us the impossibility thereof, and so 
bid us farewell." (Marshall probably sym- 
pathized with the anti-Fairfax masses.) Dur- 
ing the night of the 17th there was a quarrel 
in the crowd that had gathered about the 
camp; they used fence-rails ''with tolerable 
good success." " 19th. We set off from Cap- 
tain Downs's with expectation of reaching 
head of Conoway that night. Col. Fairfax 
and Col. Beverley outrode the rest. We 
called at Hickley's and regaled ourselves with 
some very good cider. Night coming on we 
were obliged to encamp in the mountain be- 
fore we got to ye spring head." " 20th. The 
mountains made such a dismal appearance 
that John Thomas, one of our men, took sick 
on the same and so returned home." "Oct. 
3. This day several of the horses had like 
been killed, tumbling over rocks and preci- 
pices, and ourselves often in the utmost dan- 
ger. This terrible place was called Purgatory. " 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 243 

" Sunday 5. Our situation was such that we 
could not lie by. Our horses were starving ; 
our provisions not being sufficient for us more 
than one day made it a work of necessity for 
us to press forward"— that is, to the camp; 
for this refers to a detached party. It would 
appear that the expedition divided, one party 
working to and from the Potomack, while 
Thomas Lewis, with the others, surveyed 
from the Conway. ''Oct. 7. We were very 
much put to for want of water. We could 
find no other than a standing puddle wherein 
the bears used to wallow." ''9th. Went to 
see Coburns who, with his wife and miller, a 
buxom lass, repaid the visit in the evening, 
which we spent very merrily." ''14th. This 
river [Looney's Creek] was called Styx, from 
the dismal appearance of the place, being suf- 
ficient to strike terror in any human creature." 
They had a dreadful time crossing this creek. 
On the 28th one of the men killed a buck with 
an axe. On the 30th, his Majesty's birthday, 
they drank his health, fired nine guns, and 
''concluded the evening in merriment." On 
November 13 the divided parties were to- 
gether again, and ''drank to his Majesty's 
and Lord Fairfax's health, which was accom- 
panied with a discharge of nine guns to each 



244 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

health." Colonel Peter Jefferson appears to 
have been now with the party. On the 17th 
the horses, tents, etc., were sold at auction. 
Of the party that went to the head-spring of 
the Potomack none kept a diary, and the com- 
missioners' journal was lost from the Virginia 
State Library during the civil war. They 
reached the fountain of the Potomack on Oc- 
tober 1 7, and there planted the Fairfax Stone. 

On January 23, 1747, the commissioners as- 
sembled at the house of Colonel Peter Jeffer- 
son C'Shadwell," Albemarle) to draw plans 
of the Northern Neck. But they had to send 
all the way to Williamsburg for "paper and 
other things." 

One little sequel of the expedition may be 
mentioned. While Thomas Lewis, who lived 
near Staunton, was on his visit to Fredericks- 
burg, just before the expedition started, he 
probably saw a little lady whom he did not 
forget. This was Jane Strother, the friend 
and schoolmate of George Washington. In 
1749 she married Thomas Lewis, and there 
is no greater genealogical honor in Augusta 
County, or in the valley of Virginia, than to be 
sprung from those two — whose home was 
many a time the pleasant shelter of General 
Washington. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 245 

Lord Fairfax remained at Belvoir about two 
years, and amused himself with reading, fish- 
ing, and fox-hunting. He had with him one 
of the Cage family, son probably of William 
Cage, executor of Lady Fairfax, his lordship's 
mother. Among our manuscripts is the fol- 
lowing (undated) note to Lawrence Washing- 
ton at Mount Vernon : 

, _ ' ' Wednesday Morn. 

^'DearSr ^ 

''His Ldship proposes drawing Mudd Hole 
tomorrow; first killing a Fox; and then to 
turn down a Bagged Fox before your door for 
ye diversion of ye Ladys ; but I would not 
have you think that we shall stop a long time 
at yr door, for if yi* dinner shou'd be ready by 
two then we shall pass through ye door and 
enter yr House. Mr. Bowles desires you 
wou'd send a Horse by ye Bearer. My ser- 
vice attends yr Ladys, and am Sr 

'' Yr very Humble Servant, 

''J. Cage. 

'Mf you shoud chuse Friday for our coming 
lett me know. We took the Fox yesterday 
without Hurt." 

Two of our Havemeyer manuscripts are in 
the handwriting of Lord Fairfax. They show 



246 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

that to lay the Fairfax Stone was one thing, 
and to secure respect for it another. The first 
letter is without superscription, but was prob- 
ably addressed to Warner Washington, hus- 
band of Hannah Fairfax, an active agent of his 
lordship in Frederick (now Morgan) County. 

''June I, 1747. 
''Sir, 

" Having been informed that several Persons 
who go to drink of and bath in the Medicinal 
Springs near the Mountains of Cape Capon and 
River Potomack, within my Proprietary, do un- 
necessarily bark and cut down Timber Trees 
on the waste and ungranted Lands near the 
said Springs and the Mountain adjacent, more 
than useful for the erecting and building the 
Houses and Cottages required to shelter them, 
1 desire You will in my Name use your best 
Endeavors to prevent such waste of Timber. 
And if upon your Application the said Persons 
will not desist, You will acquaint One or more 
Justices of Frederick County, requiring their 
Assistance towards restraining them. And if 
neither of these Remonstrances will avail, then 
to send me the names of such wilful Trespass- 
ers that I may proceed against them according 
to Law. 



33 



fy^ 








crH^c<^ /n.cO<^ i 



^ ir>z^/tZ 9-dy?ru/ 90X4 .£c/irc M^St- i.u^ 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 247 

' ' You may assure the Gentlemen and Others 
that if the Waters continue to be useful in re- 
lieving the Sick I shall cause the Lands around 
the Springs to be surveyd, and a Number of 
convenient Lots laid off for a Town, also give 
all fitting Encouragement to invite People to 
inhabit and Settle there. 

''Yr affecte Friend, 

''Fairfax." 

The land was duly surveyed by George 
Washington, who in the end became the chief 
landholder at the Springs. An immense white 
elm is still pointed out there as having been 
planted by Washington, the site of whose 
summer residence in the place is well known. 
But the town suggested by Lord Fairfax was 
not built until more than a quarter of a 
century later, and then not by order of his 
lordship, but of the republican Assembly of 
Virginia. 

The other letter of Lord Fairfax, dated No- 
vember 10, 1773, is given in facsimile. To 
whom it was addressed does not appear. It is 
pathetic to think of the lonely old bachelor, at 
the age of eighty-three, trying to attend to the 
business of his six million acres ; for William 
Fairfax was dead (1757). and his son George 



248 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

William Fairfax, master of Belvoir, was wrap- 
ped up in public affairs. The old nobleman's 
realm steadily slipped away from him, and 
while his friend and former surveyor, George 
Washington, was fighting for American inde- 
pendence, the aged lord was still struggling in 
law courts for the principality set up by the 
Stuart dynasty in Virginia. Yet was he a 
fine old man, with many excellent qualities. 
It was his misfortune to live too long; the 
last words attributed to him were true enough 
— ''It is time for me to die." They were ut- 
tered when he heard that Lord Cornwallis had 
surrendered to his former surveyor, George 
Washington. 

Mr. C. S.White, clerk, writes me from Rom- 
ney, West Virginia: ''The Fairfax Stone is 
still standing at one of the head springs of 
the Potomac. It is said to be a hard sand- 
stone marked ' F. ' The stone is within about 
three miles of the town of Davis, on the 
West Virginia Central Railroad, in Tucker 
County." Another correspondent, however, 
tells me that the original stone has disap- 
peared, its site being occupied by one set 
there by our government. 

The Fairfax Stone was inscribed "FX." It 
should be in the pedestal of the Washington 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 249 

Monument, in Washington City: for Fairfax- 
land was lost in Washingtonland. The Fair- 
faxes remain among our worthiest Americans, 
but not an acre, I am told, belongs to one of 
that name in the State of which Lord Fairfax 
owned a fourth. Belvoir exists not, even in 
a picture. At the close of his life Washing- 
ton wrote to Mrs. Fairfax in England: "It is 
a matter of sore regret, when I cast my eyes 
towards Belvoir, which I often do, to reflect 
that the former inhabitants of it, with whom 
we lived in such harmony and friendship, no 
longer reside there, and that the ruins can 
only be viewed as the mementoes of former 
pleasures." Greenway Court Manor, where 
Lord Fairfax so long resided, has also dis- 
appeared. Near it ^50 in gold was found, 
which the old lord had buried, probably 
during the Revolution. The owner of six 
million acres had become anxious about 
even that sum! 

Greenway Court was devised by Lord Fair- 
fax to his nephew. Colonel Bryan Martin, 
with ten thousand acres, slaves, etc. By his 
mistress, Mrs. Crawford, who had been house- 
keeper for Lord Fairfax, Colonel Martin had 
a daughter, who married Captain Francis Gel- 
dart, R. A., to whom part of the estate was 



250 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

given. The residence was bequeathed to a 
Miss Powers, who lived there as housekeeper 
after his daughter's death. 

Lord Fairfax died in 1782, his 92d year, and 
was buried under the communion-table of a 
church he had built in Winchester. When 
he first came to Virginia (1739), Winchester 
consisted of two cabins ; he lived to see it a 
flourishing town. About fifty years after his 
burial the church was sold for mercantile pur- 
poses. Among the thousand skeletons in- 
discriminately carted away was that of the 
Right Honorable Thomas Lord Fairfax, of 
Leeds Castle, England, and Baron Cameron 
in Scotland, of Greenway Court in Virginia, 
proprietor of the Northern Neck of that 
colony. Undistinguishable now is the great 
man's dust from that of the humblest of those 
around him. 

So ends the story of the Fairfax Stone, so 
resolutely set by the gallant young gentlemen 
of Virginia. Those who follow the points of 
it — the merry camp at Fredericksburg with 
little George^looking on, the setting of the 
Stone, the passing away of Belvoir and Green- 
way Court, the fate of Lord Fairfax, his dust 
and his estate — may find new significance in 
the shrine at Mount Vernon, and in the bril- 

/ 



") 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 25 I 

liant capital bearing the name of his lordship's 
surveyor. 

An apparition of lordship in Virginia was 
seen at the close of the century, when the Rev. 
Bryan Fairfax, son of William Fairfax and the 
Yankee lady Deborah, repaired to England, 
successfully claimed his title, sat once only in 
the House of Lords, and immediately returned 
as Lord Fairfax to his home, "Mount Eagle," 
near Alexandria. His departure and his return 
are represented in the following letters, hith- 
erto unpublished : 

''Mount Vernon, i8th May 1798. 
"Dear Sir, 

" Having occasion to write another letter to 
Sir John Sinclair, I take the liberty of giving 
you the trouble of it, and Mrs. Washington 
begs the favour of you to put her letter to her 
old neighbor and friend, Mrs. Fairfax, into a 
channel for safe delivery, if you should not see 
her yourself. 

' ' Knowing, from experience, that Masters 
of Vessels never sail at the time they first ap- 
point, Mrs. Washington and I propose to call 
upon you on our return from the City, in full 
confidence of seeing you then. If, however, 
contrary to expectation,the Captain of the Ves- 



252 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

sel you embark on should be more punctual 
than usual, and we should be disappointed in 
this, we beg you to receive our ardent wishes 
for a safe and pleasant passage to England — 
the perfect restoration of your health — and 
happy meeting with your family and friends 
when you return. To these wishes let me add 
assurances of the affectionate regard of 
'' Dear Sir, 

''Your Obedt Servant, 

' ' Go Washington. 

"Our compliments to Mrs. Fairfax and the 
family. 

''The Revd Mr. Fairfax." 

Mrs. Washington's letter was for the widow 
of Hon. George William Fairfax, who resided 
at Bath, where her husband died in 1787. 

The next letter is written by Hannah, wife 
of Warner Washington, the general's first 
cousin. She was the own sister of the Rev. 
Bryan Fairfax, now returned as the eighth 
Lord Fairfax. The residence of Mr. and Mrs. 
Warner Washington was ' ' Fairfield, " near Ber- 
ry ville (then Battletown) , Clarke County . The 
"Lacey's" alluded to in the following letter 
was an inn half-way between their residence 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 253 

and Alexandria. The letter is written from 
''Mount Eagle," and dated December 7, 1799. 

'' 1 have the pleasure of informing my dear 
Son that I found his Lordship greatly mended 
though still weak. 

" He had paid some morning visits to Alex- 
andria, the day we got down. He has no legs 
left now, and indeed his whole body is greatly 
emaciated. We were very lucky as to weather 
and roads in our journey down. We left La- 
cey's (where I was told I should get to my 
Brother's funeral) before sunrise, and only 
stopped to feed, which enabled us to get to 
'Mount Eagle' by 5 o'clock, — when we were 
agreeably surprised to find my brother in the 
dining-room. His Lordship has invited six- 
teen gents here today, so we are to have a 
feast, — all those who have paid visits since 
his arrival and during his illness. It is so long 
since I have conversed with Noblemen that 
it was very awkward the first day to address 
either my Brother or Sister by their titles — 
indeed I have only got over the difficulty to- 
day. It began to rain hard on Wednesday 
Night, and has continued small rain ever since, 
though this is Saturday, which has made the 
roads extremely bad. I shall go to town on 

33 



254 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Monday and get the things for the Doctor 
against Tom gets down. The family join in 
love and good wishes to all in Fairfield. 
'' I am your affectionate mother, 

''H. Washington. 
''To Fairfax Washington, Fairfield." 

The Fairfax family in America is represented 
by a cultivated and unpretending gentleman, 
residing in the neighborhood of Washington 
City, who might at any time take his seat in 
the House of Lords. 






yrL4r-x> 







i^^^^^^fijj^^^^^^^^^^^a^^^^^^^^^^^j^^^^^ 



XII 



Mount l^ernon, and Young yirginia 




AD not the career of Major Law- 
rence Washington of Mount 
Vernon been cut short by death, 
in his thirty-fourth year, his 
would now probably be a great 
name in the American Revolu- 
tion. Though only in his twenty -fourth year 
when he returned from Cartagena, he at once 
entered into public affairs, and was accorded 
high position. He was elected a member of 
the House of Burgesses, for Fairfax, in 1748. 
There are indications that both he and William 
Fairfax, President of the Council, were too 



f1 



'^' 



256 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

much in sympathy with Young Virginia and 
its enterprises to please Lord Fairfax. It is 
painful to trace along with the growing in- 
fluence of Major Lawrence Washington the 
intimations of physical decline, partly due, no 
doubt, to the severe strain to which his con- 
stitution had been subjected in the Cartagena 
campaign, partly also to the loss of his chil- 
dren. His daughter Jane died in 1745, his 
son Fairfax in 1747, his daughter Mildred in 
1749; and his little Sarah, though she sur- 
vived him, he saw destined for an early grave. 
William Fairfax, himself bereaved, extends his 
sympathy to Major Washington in a note 
(much torn) dated October 2, 1747: 

"Sir, 

"As it has been the Will of God lately to 
take to his mercy the spirits of my late Wife 
and your child we must submit to his Divine 
Pleasure and take thence Tokens or Warnings 
of our own Mortality. I am glad you have 
resolved to carry Nancy to Fredericksburg, 
where she might find Relief both in Body and 
Mind. I will sollicit and endeavour to settle 
your Affairs [with] Lidderdale — and take care 
of yese. Portm ... Mr. Noden and Sally 
will go over on Tuesday . . . What Rum I 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 257 

have to share you may c . . . Pay if I can 
dispense with Mrs. Clarke's last . . . 

"I wish you and Nancy all Health and Hap- 
piness, being very truly, my dear Sir, 
"Your and Her most affectionate 

"W. Fairfax." 

It is pleasant to find among our papers a 
letter from the Major's younger brother (' 'Aus- 
tin "), residing at ' ' Wakefield. " The interest- 
ing seal is engraved on a previous page. 

"Dr. Brother 

' ' I hope by this I may be able to Congrat- 
ulate you upon my Sister's Safe Delivery of a 
Boy. As the assembly setts next month hope 
you'll take this in your way. I am afraid we 
shall loose a friend in the Removal of the Seat 
of Government this Session by the Indisposi- 
tion of Col. Lee who has been extremely 111 ; 
he is now much better, but will not be able 
to go to town. Suppose you have heard Mr. 
Nimmo was Dead of the Flux, which is very 
Violent below. Six or Seven dying in a week 
in Williamsburgh. Commissary Dawson is 
extremely ill with it. I think his Honor ought 
to prorogue the Assembly till the town was 
Clear of such a Contagious Distemper. If you 



258 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

incline to Dispose of your land down here I 
wish you would lett me know it and the 
terms ; there is several inclinable to purchase 
it. When you come down I wish you wou'd 
bring me the notes for the Tobacco made at 
hunting Creek last year and prospected at 
Ocoquan. My Wife joins with me in our 
Compliments to you and my Sister. I am 
Dr. Brother yrs most affectionately 

"Aug't. Washington. 
''To Majr. La we. Washington 

''In Fairfax County. 
"August 28, 1748. 

"Pr. Jupiter." 

The land alluded to in the preceding is ap- 
plied for by Lawrence Butler in our next letter. 
The Washingtons and Butlers were ancient 
neighbors and friends in Virginia. In 1698 
Ann, widow of Captain John Washington, son 
of Colonel John the immigrant, gave power 
of attorney to her "trusty and well beloved 
friend Mr. Caleb Butler," and this lawyer's 
daughter was the first wife of Captain Augus- 
tine Washington. Lawrence Butler, the son 
of Caleb, was, therefore, the uncle of Major 
Lawrence Washington. He was also godson 
of the major's grandfather, Lawrence, who be- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 2^9 

queathed him a young mare, two cows, and 
137 acres — probably adjacent to the land he 
desires to buy from Major Lawrence Wash- 
ington. He may have succeeded, as no West- 
moreland land is mentioned in the Major's 
will four years later. The letter is marked, 
''By favour of Mr. A. Washington" (Austin). 
It must be added that the seal is an indecent 
device, nicely cut, surrounded with the words 
''No immodesty." 

"Dear Sir, 

"I am sorry it should be in your power 
to tax me with a Breach of promise in not 
coming up to your House, the occasion of 
which is : since parting with you am sum- 
mon'd to the first day of General Court; which 
is so Nigh hand that it cant well be done now ; 
but when the assembly Rises which I presume 
will be about Christmass, then, if your Brother 
Augustine is agreeable, will wait on and spend 
a fortnight or Three Weeks. I assure you my 
Friend I shall be proud to keep up that Friend- 
ship which has been so long United between 
that [?] of your Worthy Ancestors and my 
Father, long before our memory; And as I 
am no ways conscious why that Friendship 
should not subsist as ourforefathers did I know 



26o BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

not ; and it is my earnest wishes that it always 
may to the end of time. However I shall with- 
draw from that subject Else peredventure you 
may look on it as a piece of flattery, but, as it 
is a thing I cant enjour, hope you will look on 
it as nothing more than the truth of a sincere 
Friend. 

''However give me leave Sir to fall on an- 
other subject; which is, 1 have a great desire to 
purchase the Land we were talking of, but 
your price was when we talked the matter 
most extravangty, and since upon looking and 
Enquiring into the Land find it not Nigh so 
Good as the character, but as 1 want a seat on 
the Water to Build would give more than the 
Intrinsick Valine just for fancy ; therefore will 
make you such proposals as 1 make no doubt 
will be agreeable ; that is, 1 will give you 
Six hundred and fifty pds Current Money in 
the following manner; that is, five hundred 
pounds by ist April and the Ballance as you 
told me four years after, otherwise will pay 
you Twenty Shillings Current Money per acre, 
and make my payments in proportion to the 
other offer, which to be sure you nor no man 
can think but that is sufficient, as you very 
well know most of the Land is clear'd and 
worn out quite so much that some of your 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 261 

Tenants are obligd to Rent other Land to 
make Corn or else buy ; besides there is a good 
deal of it Barrens not worth five shillings, so 
that I must be of Opinion that when you come 
to Consider my offer you will think it is suffi- 
cient. 1 shall be glad to have your result by 
your Brother and shall conclude only wishing 
you in a better state of Health than when we 
parted, which is the sincere wishes of 
''Dr Lawrence your assur'd Friend 
'^andHbleServt 

''Law: Butler. 
''27th Sepr 1748." 

The exploration of the western region of 
Lord Fairfax's estate, and of the upper Poto- 
mack, and the maps made and circulated (long 
before they were printed), awakened Virgin- 
ians to the reality of a Great West. While 
Joist Hite and his partners were battling with 
his lordship for their claims, the majority of 
young Virginians felt that if they were to se- 
cure land they must adventure into new re- 
gions as their forefathers had adventured into 
Virginia. In 1749 the Ohio Company was 
formed ; the twenty shareholders comprised 
men now famous in Virginian, and some in 
our National, annals. The company obtained 
34 



262 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

a grant of six hundred thousand acres west of 
the mountains and south of the Ohio. Chris- 
topher Gist was sent out to survey the region, 
and to establish and fortify a settlement at 
the spot now known as Pittsburg. Those who 
would now study that enterprise will find 
some fresh information in the newly published 
biography of George Mason, by Kate Mason 
Rowland,— a useful contribution to American 
history. While Christopher Gist, the first 
white settler west of the Alleghanies, was cut- 
ting out there the first roads. Col. Thomas 
Lee, President of the Council, was engineering 
the company in Virginia, and several agents 
were attending to its interests in London. 

Major Lawrence Washington was among 
the original organizers of the company, and 
it was on that business, probably also with 
hope of benefit to his health, that he visited 
England. We have here two letters written 
to him while there by William Fairfax. 

"Belvoir, 17th July 1749. 
''Sir, 

"Soon after I rec'd your letter by Ben, I 
gave my Lord the letter you left with me : He 
read and put it into his Pocket without saying 
anything then or since. Notwithstanding the 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 263 

Land Office for Frederick Co'ty has been Shut 
chiefly on Acct of Messrs. Joist Hite and Oth- 
ers concerned, they are now come to an open 
Declaration of seeking elsewhere for Relief, 
and have Sent Abram Hite to Mr. Mercer for 
Council in Hopes of getting Some Kind of 
Injunction, and a Petition is going about to 
enable C0I9 Wood and said Hite to go and 
Solicit his Majesty not to consent to the late 
Act of Assembly which explains the Word 
Grants to mean only such Grants as have 
passed under the Seal of the Colony. 

"As you had no certain Prospect when You 
was to sail with the Governor [Gooch] the 
Passage you and Mr. Carter took with Capt. 
Kelly a good naturd man was well under- 
taken. According to Desire I now enclose 
your Second Bill, and when at Williamsburg 
shall endeavor to get and send you a Bill of 
Excha: on Acct of yr half Year's Salary, under 
cover to Mr. Price in Bush Lane. 

''What relates to the Sales of the Lots in 
our new Town will be communicated, toge- 
ther With a Plan thereof by your Bro: George. 
I went over the i ^th inst. to pass Saturday 
night with your Dame, Brothers Austin, and 
George, and Sister Betsy; On Sunday Mr. 
Carlyle and Sally, G. Fx his Consort and Miss 



264 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Molly joynd us and you cant doubt but We 
unanimously toasted your and Mr. Carter's 
good voyage, and that every Felicity may be 
your Attendant. Perhaps when you go to 
London you may find Mr. R. Noden inclinable 
to see Maj. Fx. If so, desire his favorable In- 
troduction. By the Character I have, He will 
receive You with genteel Freedom. I am not 
personally acquainted, or would send you a 
Letter. 

''lam&c&c&c 

''W. Fx." 

The "new Town" alluded to was Alexan- 
dria, originally Belhaven. ''Sally" is Sarah 
Carlyle, daughter of William Fairfax. ' ' Miss 
Molly" is Mary Cary (afterwards Mrs. Edward 
Ambler), sister of Sally, wife of George Fair- 
fax. ''Maj. Fx" is Robert Fairfax of Leeds 
Castle. 

The next letter of William Fairfax to Law- 
rence Washington in England is as follows : 

Fairfax Coty i 5 August 1 749. 
"Sir, 

"Our Principal Occurrence in this County 
Since your Departure has been the Election 
of our Vestry, a copy of which is enclosed. 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 265 

Majr. Osborne was strongly opposed by the 
Parson's Interest, who again insinuated my 
Lord and Family's Intention to build a central 
Church of extraordinary Expense. Colo Col- 
vill had so few votes He supprest the Number. 

''You will a little wonder if Colo Philip Lee 
should present you this Epistle in London. 
By his Father's Letter to me I understand it 
was a Sudden Resolution to go with Sr Wm 
G[ooch]. Nat. Smith, who calls for this in Ex- 
pectation of going also, has so little Time 
Nancy cannot write. I heard from Mount 
Vernon this morning. 

''I wish you every Satisfaction and a glad 
Sight of Tommy. 

''Yr very affecte Friend, 

"W. Fairfax." 

The enclosure, a list of the twelve success- 
ful candidates and the unsuccessful, in George 
Washington's writing, and with his signature, 
follows : 



' ' Vestry, Truro Tarisb 

1749." 

Hugh West, Ordy 255 

Jera Bronaugh, Sheriff .... 248 

James Hamilton, Ordy .... 228 



( ( 



266 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Charles Broadwater 224 

Geo: Mason, no Resident . . . 232 

William Payne, no Freehold . . 200 
Thomas Wren do . . 192 
John Furley ....... 189 

William Peake 207 

Daniel McCarty 220 

Abram Barnes 196 

12 Robert Boggess, Ordy .... 192 

John Minor . . . . . . . . 180 

John West 165 

Henry Gunnell ....... 158 

Thos Ford 152 

William Elzey 107 

George Fairfax • 115 

Benjamin Sebastion 103 

Richd Osborne 84 

James Donalson 67 

Sampson Furley 67 

Joseph Stephens, little known . 41 

12 Colo Colvill 

"Copy 

''G. Washington." 

The parson whose ''interest" had defeated 
Major Osborne's aspiration for the Vestry, 
was the Rev. Charles Green, mentioned in 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 267 

my fourth chapter. I suspect that he must 
have been previously a clerk, for he was 
a physician, and continued medical practice 
to the end of his life (1765). He was the 
family physician at Mount Vernon, after 
George Washington had come into posses- 
sion. ''Hugh West," says Miss Rowland, 
''is enumerated with the Alexanders, Fair- 
faxes, and Lawrence Washington in the act 
incorporating Alexandria in 1748, and the 
town was built on the land of Hugh West 
and John and Philip Alexander. One family 
of the Wests in Virginia is descended from a 
brother of Lord Delaware whose family name 
it was." Major Osborne, an original trustee 
of the town, died in February, 1750. The 
McCartys and Bronaughs were connected 
with the Mason family, and men of great in- 
fluence. Benjamin Sebastian was a clergy- 
man. All of the men in the list were active 
in county affairs. Although George Mason 
is described as "no resident," this was over- 
looked. He was no doubt living at his 
mother's house, "Chappawamsic," but prob- 
ably already building Gunston Hall, in Fair- 
fax, for the wife whom he married the 
following year. ("Life of Mason," I, p. 84.) 
Colonel Colville would appear to have been 



268 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

an opponent of the Fairfax interest, but in 
after years was a friend of General Washing- 
ton, who was executor of his estate. This 
appears by a letter of the general to Bushrod 
Washington, printed in my ''George Wash- 
ington and Mount Vernon," p. 328. I am 
indebted to Miss Kate Mason Rowland for 
assistance in making these brief notes, which 
may give my reader some idea of the agita- 
tions surrounding Major Lawrence Washing- 
ton and William Fairfax. 

Mr. Elzey, defeated at the Vestry election, 
was the opponent of George William Fairfax 
in a contest for the House of Burgesses which 
is said to have brought George Washington 
his first political experience, namely, a per- 
sonal encounter with William Payne, whose 
name is in the successful list. Mr. Cabot 
Lodge, in his ''Life of Washington," indig- 
nantly repudiates this story ; but it is related 
by the Rev. Dr. McGuire, who married a rel- 
ative of Washington's, and does not appear 
to me improbable. 

"His warm friendship for Col. Fairfax 
brought him in collision with a Mr. Payne, 
the friend of Mr. Elzey. In consequence of 
some offensive language into which he was 
betrayed towards Mr. Payne, that individual 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 269 

struck him with a stick, and so violent was 
the blow that it knocked him down. ... He 
[Washington] wrote a note to Mr. Payne re- 
questing that he would meet him next morn- 
ing at the tavern, as he wished to see him 
with reference to their recent disagreement. 
Payne, in expectation of an unpleasant inter- 
view, repaired accordingly to the appointed 
place, and, instead of a hostile meeting, found 
Washington prepared to acknowledge his 
fault and solicit pardon for the offense given 
in an unguarded moment." 

It speaks a great deal for George William 
Fairfax that, though nearly six years older 
than George Washington, he became his com- 
rade. He appears to have been trained for 
the work of surveying, probably because his 
father (William) saw the great need of it on 
the estates in his charge ; and when George 
Washington had learned all that the Freder- 
icksburg school could teach him in that direc- 
tion, George Fairfax employed him as an 
assistant on the great survey, of which the 
boy (just sixteen) has left the graphic account 
recently edited by Dr. J. M. Toner. (Munsell.) 
Thenceforth he was devoted to George Fair- 
fax, and perhaps the only political canvassing 
in which Washington ever engaged was to 
35 



270 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

carry his friend to the House of Burgesses. 
George William Fairfax first entered the House 
just after the survey mentioned, giving up his 
place as surveyor to George Washington. In 
December, 1748, he w^as married to a famous 
Williamsburg belle, Sally Gary, who also 
became fond of George Washington. She 
brought with her a sister, Mary, to whom 
George alludes in one of his letters as '' a very 
agreeable young lady," who, however, only 
''revives my former passion for your Lowland 
Beauty" (Betsy Fauntleroy). Thus, if old 
Lord Fairfax had been disappointed in love 
(else how could he resist the Virginia beau- 
ties ?), there was another bond between him 
and his young surveyor. The ladies at Bel- 
voir tried to beguile the love-lorn youth even 
by flirtation — as appears by a letter found in 
the desk of Mrs. Fairfax after her death, in 
extreme age, in England. Long years after 
the charming circle at Belvoir was broken up, 
Washington defended from confiscation the 
property of his friend George Fairfax, whose 
real loyalty to America he affirmed. 

It has been repeatedly stated that, in mar- 
rying Sally Gary, George William Fairfax car- 
ried off his friend's sweetheart, but it is de- 
monstrably certain that Washington never 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 27 1 

met her until after her marriage. In this con- 
nection 1 will copy here a curious legend of 
the Fauntleroys from a private letter written 
by a great-granddaughter of Washington's 
''Lowland Beauty": 

' 'About the year 1690 a young French prince, 
heir to the throne, formed a morganatic mar- 
riage with a young French gentlewoman, 
Lady Eliza Bellefield, of good family but not 
of the blood royal. Somewhere about 1700 
the Prince of Saxe-Meinigen was also married 
ad morganaticum to Elizabeth Schurman, and 
petitioned the Emperor, Charles VI., to give 
her the title of Princess, and confer the right 
of succession on her children. This raised a 
storm in the princely world, which ended in 
the decision of the leading lawyers that such 
a marriage as a civil engagement was binding, 
but failed to confer on the wife the title or 
fortune of her husband. But long before that 
result of their combined wisdom was known, 
Lady Bellefield had died of chagrin, and her 
three sons were banished from France. They 
came to Virginia about 1706, bringing with 
them their princely title, Enfant- Le-Roi, and 
coat of arms, three infant heads crowned with 
fleurs-de-lis. Miss Betsy was named for and 



272 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

was the granddaughter of Lady Eliza Belle- 
field." (According to this correspondent, 
Betsy did not marry an Adams, as I have 
stated, but a Fauntleroy.) 

Next to Colonel Thomas Lee in official man- 
agement of the company was Major Lawrence 
Washington, and it is with much satisfaction 
that I find in the Havemeyer collection a letter 
of his, the only one I have seen from his hand. 
It was written apparently to some high of- 
ficial in England, and is without date — also 
without much punctuation. Although written 
with the haste of which it speaks, the writing 
is clear and the statements are lucid. 

"Sir, 

"In compliance to your desire I have drawn 
an imperfect scatch of the Ohio etc. by which 
you may form some Idea how the Branches 
of that River and Potomack interlock. 

' ' Potomack River is navigable for small Flats 
as high up as the Aligany Mountains except 
an obstruction of seventeen miles imediately 
above where the Tide flows which is described 
by the two sides of the River uniting in my 
scatch. 

"The Ohio is a dull River and admits an 
easy Passage for Flats or Canoes within seven 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 273 

miles of Lake Erie and by the Branch called 
Yohiogana within forty-five of the head of 
Potomack and the Mountains on Savage River 
admitting an easy Passage through makes the 
communication between those two Rivers 
very easy. 

"Wood's River breaks thro' the Aligany 
Mountains and has its first Source near Roan- 
oke and is the Branch Howard and his Party 
went down about seven years ago when they 
were made Prisoners ; there are several Ger- 
mans setled on the head of it to the Eastward 
of the Aligany Mountains. 

''The Lands on Ohio and its numerous 
Branches are described by all our Traders as 
vastly rich. The Banks of the River expose 
Coal in most parts to view. The Indians bring 
Salt from some Place as yet unknown to our 
Traders. There are numbers of large Plains 
clear of Trees and cover'd with white Clover. 
The Country is generally very level and the 
River affords Fish in great plenty. There are 
many more Branches of the Missisipi So of the 
Ohio that take their rise out of the same Ridge 
of Mts. On one aback of Carolina live the 
Cherekees and on the back of Georgia the 
great Nation of Indians the Chekesaws and 
still more So the Creek Indians they live in 



274 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

North Carolina but not on the Branches of the 
Missisipi. The Ohio is inhabited by the Na- 
tions tributary to the Six Nations to whom 
duringtheWar many Indians Friends to France 
heretofore join'd. The French have no Setle- 
ment nearer than the Mouth of the Ohbash 
[Wabash]. The Lands on Lake Erie are said 
likewise to be very fine. 

" I have now describ'd in an imperfect man- 
ner owing a litle to the hurry I am now in, 
the Country aback of Pensilvania Virginia and 
Carolina and shall now add my thoughts on 
the advantage arising by a due encouragement 
to the speedy Setlement thereof. 

"The Skin Trade ever has been deemed a 
beneficial one to all Nations whose Dominions 
or Course of Traffick would permit them to 
carry it on. The English have had the French 
their great Rivals herein who by claiming what 
I apprehend in nowise belongs to them have 
prevented our Traders penetrating further into 
the Country nor indeed could they otherwise 
well have done it for want of proper places of 
security on the Ohio for their Goods it being 
impossible to send to Philadelphia or Virginia 
every time they want Goods to sort their Car- 
gos without the loss of so much time and ex- 
pense as distroy'd the Trade this Evil which 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 275 

is a very great one and which I have heard the 
Traders complain much of will be remedied 
by the Scheem the Ohio Company are in- 
tending to pursue who propose keeping a large 
QZ of Goods at the joining of the Ohio and 
Monongala in a Fortified Store which are to 
be sold the Indians or Traders at a moderate 
advance and can during any season of the 
Year be easily procured by the out Traders 
who follow the Indians many hundred miles 
during the Hunting Season. It appears evi- 
dent (and is so in fact) that the Trade can be 
better supply'd from the Head of Potomack 
than any other way the navigation from Eu- 
rope being much safer and shorter and the 
Land Carriage very easy. 

''That its the Interest exclusive of Trade to 
get possession of that extensive Country I be- 
lieve no one doubts and so I shall say litle 
more than that the further we extend our 
Frontier the safer we render the Interior Do- 
minions and the French having possession of 
the Ohio might easily invade Virginia etc. for 
our Mts. are not so formidable as to be much 
security, and that it can be never better timed 
than now when the Indians are our Friends 
and would assist by proper encouragement 
in securing any Setlement the Crown would 



276 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

think proper to make and nothing can more 
contribute to keeping them our Friends than 
contriving them the necessaries of Life at the 
easiest rates which the setling the Ohio will 
effectually do; The Indians being no Geog- 
raphers esteem those the honestest who sell 
the cheapest and was the reason why the In- 
dians on Ohio proclaim'd War against the 
French who were so distressed in their Trade 
as not to be able to supply the Indians on 
reasonable Terms, neither can they ever do it 
the navigation up St. Lawrence being very 
dangerous as likewise there are places they 
are obliged to unload and carry over land from 
St. Lawrence to ye Lakes and then the Cur- 
rent in some places is vastly strong and on the 
Lakes very wild and dangerous so that I think 
the head of Potomack the safest and easiest 
way the Indian can be supply'd. 

"U his Majesty would ingage the Indians 
by annual presents it would certainly be the 
most speedy method of setling that Country 
for no Persons will dare to live there without 
being well convinced of the affection of the 
Indians. Germany will readily afford inhabi- 
tants etc. 

'* I have so litle time at command that I am 
forced to leave off without even being at lei- 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 277 

zure to read over what I have w^rit, but if it 
can convey to you any of the Ideas I have of 
the usefulness of the setling the Ohio it an- 
swers my end and I hope you will excuse the 
rest. I am 

''Your most humble Servt 

*'Lawe Washington 
''Nov: 7th, 1749." 

The Wabash is called Obash by Governor 
Dinwiddie (1754). "Wood's River" is now 
the Great Kanawha. It was discovered by 
Abram Wood, who crossed the Blue Ridge 
at "Wood's Gap." On Fry and Jefferson's 
Map it is called "Great Konhaway, called also 
Wood's and New River. " (Dinwiddie Papers, 
I, pp. 62 and 282.) It was probably from the 
Kanawha salt-licks that the Indians got the 
salt to which Major Washington alludes. His 
appreciation of the coal-field is notable. 

Among those interested in the Ohio Com- 
pany was the London merchant Robert Din- 
widdie, afterwards Governor of Virginia. Din- 
widdie had in various ways been connected 
with the colony, — as trader and as inspector 
of customs, — and was well acquainted with 
the Washington and Fairfax families of Vir- 
ginia. On the death of Thomas Lee the presi- 
36 



278 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

dencyoftheOhio Company devolved on Major 
Lawrence Washington, to whom the follow- 
ing letter was addressed, "Pr Collo Fairfax," 
beneath this name being the incomprehensi- 
ble letters "D. D." Colonel William Fairfax 
had passed a year in England. 

''London, 20^^ March 17^0/1 
''Dear Sir, 

"Having so good an oppty as yr Father in 
Law Collo Fairfax, 1 embrace it to acquaint you 
of the receipt of yours by him and one since. 
The last gave me pleasure, that the Dutch 
wanted 50,000 acres of the Land granted to 
Ohio Compy, and observe what you write 
about their own Minister, and to endeavour 
to have them freed from paying to the Church 
of England. I fear this will be a difficult Task 
to get over, and at prest the Parliamt is so busy 
with public affairs, and the Ministry in course 
engaged, add thereto the Indisposition of our 
friend Mr H.y., that we must wait some time 
before we can reply but be assured of my ut- 
most endeavours therein. 

"The Death of my good friend Collo [Tho- 
mas] Lee, gave me real concern, as he was a 
person ggreatly Valued, and indeed the Ohio 
Company have lost a Worthy manager, but 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 279 

as the last in course devolves on you, I have 
no doubt of your Exerting yourself therein if 
your health will allow of it, it will give me a 
sensible pleasure to hear of your confirmed 
good state of health. 

''As to news here 1 refer you to the bearer 
who can tell you more fully than 1 can write. 
I begg to hear from you as soon as possible, 
and if I can be of any service to you freely 
Comand 

' ' Sr y r most obedt huie Servt , 

''Rob'^ Dinwiddie. 
''My Wife joins me in kind respects to your 
Lady and family." 

The "Mr H.y." alluded to was John Han- 
bury, a great London merchant, an eminent 
Quaker, and an original grantee of the Ohio 
Company. He died in 1758. The above let- 
ter is, I believe, the earliest known from Din- 
widdie. In the collection is also a letter of 
earlier date than any yet published from the 
great Virginian, George Mason of Gunston 
Hall. He was among the most active pro- 
moters of the Ohio Company, and this letter, 
"pr favour of Mr. Parker," was addressed to 
the new manager, "Major Lawrence Wash- 
ington, Fairfax County." 



28o BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

"May 27th, 1750. 
''Dear Sir, 

''As the Gentm Mr. Parker offers for Se- 
curity are utter Strangers to Me, I cannot take 
upon Me to say whether I think them suffi- 
cient or not ; but as Mr. Parker's Affairs are 
circumstanced, I imagine they are the only 
Security He can at this Time give, and there- 
fore I most readily concur in the same Opinion 
with You, that it's better to accept them than 
delay sending up the Goods any longer ; for 
we have already given to our Rivals the 
Pennsilvns too many Advantages over us by 
suffering them to engage the Interest of the 
Indians, and raising in them numberless Pre- 
judices against the Ohio Compy. While We, 
instead of fulfilling our Engagements and 
complying wth our Promises in Supplying 
them wth Goods, have lain quite still, as if 
we were altogether unconcerned in the Mat- 
ter; for these Reasons I shou'd look upon 
anything that put stop to the Trade for this 
Season, as utterly destructive of our whole 
Scheme, and think it ought carefully to be 
avoided ; and I have really so good an Opin- 
ion of Parker that I can hardly think He'll 
offer to defraud us ; besides I believe his All 
depends upon discharging this Trust with 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 28 1 

Honour and Integrity. — But as the Company 
have ordered that he shou'd give Security, 
and have relyed upon us to take it, we 
ought by all means to observe their Direc- 
tions ; and I make no Doubt, let the event be 
what it will, that they will approve what we 
have done ; as they must be convinced We 
act upon no other motion than the Interest 
of the Company. — I therefore agree to accept 
the Security Mr. Parker offers till a Geni Meet- 
ing of the Company, at wch Time they may 
accept or reject them as they think proper, — 
but I hardly think the Instrument of Writing 
Mr. Parker showed me authentic, and am of 
Opinion they ought to bind themselves wth 
him in a Penal Bond under their Hands and 
Seals; but as this cannot be done imedi- 
ately I suppose there can be no Risque in 
letting him have a Load of Goods now, and 
desiring him to have such Bond signed agst 
he comes down again. Had Mr Chapman 
been at Home, I shd have consulted him upon 
it; as he is not, I give you my own senti- 
ments, and am wth my comps to the Ladys 
'' Sr Yr most humble servt 

''George Mason. 
''I wrote to stop our second Cargoe till 
next Spring." 



282 BARONS OF THE POTOMAC K 

The Chapman referred to was Pearson Chap- 
man, whose residence was in Maryland, be- 
tween the spots afterwards occupied by Wash- 
ington and Georgetown, and just opposite 
Gunston Hall. Not far from the Chapman's 
was ''Mattawoman" (on the Maryland side), 
from which house the above letter was prob- 
ably written; for, a few weeks before, this 
\^ young Virginian had become the happy hus- 
band of Anne, daughter of Colonel Eilbeck of 
''Mattawoman" — the young lady being al- 
ready, at sixteen, famed for her beauty. 

Early in the year 1750 William Fairfax, ac- 
companied by his son-in-law, Major Carlyle, 
visited England, and we have two interesting 
letters written from that country to Major 
Lawrence Washington. The first is dated at 
Whitehaven, July 6, 1750. 

"Sir, 

"As I was several times Seasick in our Pas- 
sage your Bristol Water and the good plumb 
Cake as often entertaind me agreably, and 
used with that care as to bring some of Each 
hither. Mr. [Joseph] Deane soon came and 
kindly invited Us to dine with him where 
Mrs. Deane joynd in a friendly Enquiry after 
yours and Nanny's Welfare. This Town is 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 283 

dayly encreasing in its building of Houses and 
Shipping. Sr James Lowther is at London 
attended by his Physicians. All the Gentle- 
men appear very complaisant. We lodge at 
Mr. Hicks', and propose setting off with Him 
on Monday to visit Mrs. Hicks at Pap Castle 
in our way to Carlisle. When I din'd at Mr. 
How's, he gave Me the enclosed Advertise- 
ments assuring that if our Planters would not 
conform to tye up their Tobacco in Hands or 
Bundles as the French insist, their Agents are 
directed not to purchase. 1 suppose that Al- 
teration will not appear to give any extraor- 
dinary Trouble especially as the French Market 
demands it to be so handled. You will there- 
fore please to recomend the Consideration 
thereof to your Friends and where you can 
influence. — Pray tell Nancy that I shall not 
forget her Tokens upon my Arrival in London. 
We set off for Carlisle to morrow to visit Mrs. 
Carlyle, thence to Kendall and York, where 
my Stay will be uncertain ; however if yue 
have any Thing for me to negotiate for yue in 
London yue may direct for me at Mr. Noden's. 
I have writ to my Lord Fx, desiring Him to 
acquaint me wherein I have given cause for 
so much coldness as He Seemed to treat me, 
yue and Mr. Carlyle, for it would give me real 



284 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

concern to have it continued, which would 
embitter the Satisfaction your Neighbourhood 
would otherwise enjoy. And my Stay in Eng- 
land would be rendered more agreable, on 
hearing that a good Harmony was promoted 
and maintained in our Familys. — We did not 
fail in our Passage to remember yue all at Mt 
Vernon in our Toasts. Hoping Sally [Carlyle] 
has got a pretty Boy to dandle till his Papa 
returns and relieves the Sport, With kindest 
Love to yue all and Friends, 1 am Dear Sir, 
''Your affecte Parent 

''and faithful Friend, 

"W: Fairfax." 

The next letter is addressed "To Lawrence 
Washington Esqr ; at Mount Vernon on Poto- 
mack River Virginia." 

"London 12th October 1750. 
"Sir, 

"1 had the Pleasure to receive your two 
Letters which relieved an anxious Suspense 
Mr Carlyle and 1 were under on Accot of being 
told of Sally's dangerous Symptoms in a can- 
cerous Breast. You'l do Us Justice in think- 
ing that your present Narration other expected 
Recovery has only made our Enjoyment easy 



AND THE RAPPAHANNOCK 285 

and sometimes cheerful. I have not been in- 
terrupted in my Travel and Visits by any con- 
fining Disorder, and hope even the Winter 
approaching will not prove too severe in its 
chilling Attacks.— I am kindly lodgd and en- 
tertaind at Mr Noden's where I have seen the 
Earl of Haddington lately married to Mrs Loyd 
and appear to be an affable and happy couple. 
They are preparing to set off for Scotland there 
to live with a noble Spirit but becoming Oecon- 
omy . The present weather is rainy and cloudy 
which prevents my going dayly abroad. Majr 
Fx. is expected in Town next week. I have 
not visited Mr Bladen yet but intend it soon. 
1 am sorry Lord Fx. continues to show his 
Dislike as None of our Family have given just 
Occasion ; And 1 trust G Fx. will not do any 
Thing willingly to Offend so as to make a 
Pretext for the intended Removal you men- 
tion. Then if such should happen We might 
with better Reflection endeavour to make the 
Best of it. As to Household Linnen &c ex- 
pect to carry some with us having talkt with 
Mrs Carlyle about the Want G. Fx may be 
exposed to, even before We can arrive in the 
Spring. I have wrote to Col. Gary for his 
kind assistance. I shall be glad to hear that 
your Bro. and Self received Benefit at the 
37 



286 BARONS OF THE POTOMACK 

Springs. I am much pleased with my Coming 
for as well in Yorkshire as here I have renewd 
that good Acquaintance, as I trust G Fx. and 
my other Family may derive some Advantage. 
I am dear Sir 

''Yrs and Nancy's very affect Parent 

^'W: Fairfax." 

"Mr. Bladen" was the uncle of William 
Fairfax, an eminent classical scholar, who 
became one of the Lords of Trade. 

With these letters this book may draw to 
a close. They leave us with a feeling that 
interesting facts remain undiscovered in the 
early history of the Washington and Fairfax 
families. George Washington himself wrote 
to the Earl of Buchan that there had been 
''intermarriages" between the Fairfax and 
Washington families before they came to 
America, but only one has been discovered 
— that of Henry Fairfax, father of William, 
with the sister of Mrs. Henry Washington of 
South Cave, Yorkshire. No connection be- 
tween these northern Washingtons and those 
of Virginia has been made out, yet William 
Fairfax's letters suggest their acquaintance, 



H 70 89^ 



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